After a period of digital construction from scratch, many car companies are facing new challenges. When industry competition intensifies and consumer demand changes rapidly, the positioning of enterprises' digital strategies often wavers. In the "2024 White Paper on Digital Transformation in the Automotive Industry", the core pain points in the current digital transformation are analyzed in depth and practical solutions are proposed.
Ⅰ. The loss and reshaping of strategic positioning
As the industry enters a period of adjustment, many car company executives are beginning to question the actual value of digital investment. Under the pressure of sales, the original firm determination to digital transformation gradually wavered, and the pursuit of short-term sales growth was turned to pursue. This strategic swing leads to frequent changes in business goals and a spread of resources, resulting in a "everything you want to do, but nothing you can do" dilemma.
The solution lies in establishing a dynamic equilibrium target system:
1. During the downturn of the industry, the evaluation dimension should be adjusted, and cost-saving indicators such as automation process development and labor cost optimization should be included in the assessment system
2. During the market recovery period, it is necessary to expand the value connotation and comprehensively evaluate the contribution of digitalization through indicators such as user-derived income and brand premium
3. Establish a flexible adjustment mechanism while maintaining strategic focus to ensure effective synergy between long-term value and short-term goals.
Figure: Digital transformation strategies of automotive companies
Ⅱ. Lack and reconstruction of business leadership
The unique long industrial chain of the automotive industry not only provides a broad space for digital transformation, but also brings unique challenges. The current widespread phenomenon of "business gap" severely restricts the transformation process: business units respond negatively due to a lack of digital imagination, and technical teams develop systems that are detached from reality due to insufficient understanding of the business, resulting in a large number of "zombie functions".
The key to building a deep integration of business and technology is:
(1) Establish a two-way cognitive channel
1. Improve the digital awareness of business departments through case studies and practical exercises
2. The technical team inspires business innovation with a minimum viable product (MVP).
3. Introduce third-party perspectives to complete the cognition of transformation scenarios
(2) Avoid common implementation pitfalls
1. Align business objectives to prevent projects from getting off track
2. Establish a collaborative mechanism to avoid waste of resources caused by duplicate construction
Ⅲ. Rethinking the transformation path
Digital transformation is by no means a simple technology upgrade, but a system engineering that involves the reconstruction of organizational capabilities. Companies need to establish a "three-in-one" transformation framework:
1. Value dimension: Build a composite evaluation system that includes financial indicators, user experience, and operational efficiency
2. Organizational dimension: Cultivate a cross-border talent team that understands both business and technology
3. Implementation dimension: form a gradual implementation path of "planning-pilot-promotion".
For example, the white paper mentions industry case sharing: Taking the digital team of a joint venture brand as an example, its long-term value proposition adheres to the realization of digital functions, so it focuses on the implementation of functions, satisfaction with digitalization on the business side and other relevant indicators. However, with the expansion of business scope, the sales of new energy vehicles have become the focus of the brand, so the digital team has incorporated digital marketing-related indicators into the short-term goals of its department, and cooperated with the construction of the corresponding operation team and planned supporting operation measures. However, no matter how the short-term support projects change, the brand's top-level digital strategic goal still focuses on the functional delivery of digital empowerment business, and the overall resource allocation and talent reserve can still reflect the focus and priority of products and technologies.
In the face of industry changes, car companies need to re-examine the essential value of digitalization. Neither can we give up long-term investment because of short-term pressures, nor can we talk about transformation in isolation from the actual business. Only by adhering to the principle of "business-oriented, value-oriented" can we embark on a sustainable digital development path in an uncertain market environment.
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