Automotive Business

Wenn Europas Autobauer überleben wollen, müssen sie sich radikal umstrukturieren - sowohl mental als auch real. Ex-Audi-Vorstand Peter Mertens ist überzeugt: Zukunftsfähig sind nur die Unternehmen, die mehr Nachhaltigkeit wagen, die sich stark machen für mehr europäische Souveränität in der globalen Automotive Industrie und sich öffnen für Kooperationen innerhalb und außerhalb der Branche. Dabei ist ein Zusammenschluss von Wirtschaft, Politik und Wissenschaft ebenso nötig wie ein neues Verständnis dessen, was ein Auto überhaupt ist.

Marketing, sales, and branding (yes - branding!) must radically shift to reflect how people actually engage with companies. It would be an understatement to say the auto industry has been slow to adapt. Make no mistake, change - spurred by the Amazons, Carvanas, and CarMaxes of the world - is upon us. If you’re not willing to be among the most innovative thinkers regarding brand connection, you’re simply not going to survive, let alone thrive.

Today's unprecedented pace of change leaves many people wondering what new technologies are doing to our lives. Has social media robbed us of our privacy and fed us with false information? Are the decisions about our health, security and finances made by computer programs inexplicable and biased? Will these algorithms become so complex that we can no longer control them? Are robots going to take our jobs? John Browne presents an impassioned defence of progress and innovation and argues that we need not and must not put the brakes on technological advance.

Here's a biographical profile of John and Horace Dodge, the fabulously wealthy Detroit automobile pioneers who reveled in yachts, estates and producing great cars. Unfortunately, John and Horace's lifestyles were unacceptable to the social elite in Detroit; they regarded the brothers as uncultured, crude and boorish. And they probably were, but it bothered the brothers not at all.

The world is moving towards trillions of connected devices that in a few years will be not smartphones, but virtually anything - most of which has never been connected before. This connecting the unconnected will enable the Internet of Things - the rise of which is both exciting and confusing. The authors evaluate the opportunities that emerge as a result of the Internet of Things focusing on the impact to individuals, industries and societies.