As the automotive industry fully embraces digital transformation, automakers are facing completely different transformation challenges due to differences in brand characteristics, product characteristics, and market layout timing. The focus of the industry has gradually shifted from the basic question of "how to take the first step" in the early stage to deeper thinking such as "how to achieve refined operation" and "how to tap the true value of digitalization". Based on rich experience in industry consulting services, the SBOT digital transformation methodology system can be extracted from the 2024 White Paper on Digital Transformation in the Automotive Industry, and from the four core dimensions of strategic planning, business restructuring, organizational change, and technology, the typical difficulties encountered by enterprises in the process of digital transformation can be systematically sorted out, and solutions with practical value can be provided.
Strategic positioning: from blindly following the trend to making precise efforts
At present, there is a general problem of scattered goals in the strategy formulation process of car companies. Specifically, there are two typical phenomena: one is that the expectation of digital empowerment is too high, which not only hopes to achieve process optimization and labor cost reduction through the automation platform, but also expects artificial intelligence technology to simultaneously improve the level of product intelligence and marketing accuracy; The second is to rely too much on competitors' benchmarking strategies, trying to simply copy the digital product layout of peer benchmarks, in order to achieve market surpass. Neither of these approaches can form a unique digital strategy system.
In response to this situation, the white paper recommends the following systematic solutions:
Enterprises should base on their own resource endowments and analyze the external environment to clarify the core demands of digital transformation. A comprehensive diagnosis can be carried out by building a four-dimensional evaluation model of brand influence, product competitiveness, operational efficiency and operational quality. Taking a joint venture brand with stable market performance as an example, with its existing brand reputation and product advantages, its digital transformation focus may be more inclined to improve customer operation capabilities and management efficiency.
Figure: Top-level goal setting of digital strategy
An effective digital strategy should have four main characteristics:
1. High focus
The role of digitalization in the development of enterprises needs to be clearly defined and relatively stable during the planning cycle. Considering that the automotive industry has entered the era of stock competition and the research and development of cutting-edge technologies requires long-term investment, it is recommended that most enterprises give priority to consolidating the foundation of online business and gradually advancing to intelligent applications.
2. The system is decomposable
Strategic positioning needs to be visualized as a concrete implementation path at the business, organizational, and technical levels. At the business level, it focuses on the digital transformation of key nodes in the whole product life cycle, including R&D and innovation, intelligent manufacturing, smart supply chain, digital marketing and intelligent services. At the organizational level, special team building and talent echelon training need to be considered; At the technical level, it is necessary to pay attention to the upgrading of system architecture and data asset governance.
3. The implementation can be implemented
After clarifying the development direction of each field, it is necessary to identify key projects that can be broken through in the near future. For example, in the face of the trend of electrification, traditional car companies can focus on the digital R&D or innovative marketing of new energy products, and simultaneously support organizational safeguard measures, such as the establishment of a full-time new energy business department and technical support team.
4. Phased progressiveness
On the basis of short-term goals, it is necessary to extend the formulation of medium- and long-term development plans for 3-5 years. The core value proposition should remain continuous, but the specific implementation focus can be dynamically adjusted according to market changes.
This systematic transformation framework helps automakers avoid the misconception of "digital omnipotence" and focus limited resources on the areas that can best create value by establishing clear strategic coordinates. In the process of implementation, special attention needs to be paid to maintaining strategic focus, and at the same time having the flexibility to respond to market changes, forming a virtuous cycle mechanism of "strategy-execution-feedback-optimization". Only in this way can we build differentiated digital competitiveness in the fierce industry competition.
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