Talking automotive supply chain with Capgemini experts

Exploring priorities for the future of the automotive supply chain

Not long ago, automotive companies’ top priority for their supply chain was usually efficiency. In view of global trends in the automotive supply chain, it’s clear that is no longer enough. But what should the priorities be now?

Some of the candidates are obvious. Take resilience, for example. Recent automotive industry supply chain disruptions, starting with the pandemic and continuing with events in eastern Europe, have highlighted just how dependent automakers are on suppliers at all levels, not just tier 1s. Clearly, the resilience of the supply chain is critical to the resilience of the whole business.

Another potential priority area for the automotive supply chain is sustainability. Despite some regional backtracking on EV targets, regulatory and stakeholder pressure on the industry to reduce its carbon footprint is only going to increase in the longer term. The supply chain is a key contributor to that footprint, and therefore meeting sustainability goals depends on supply chain optimization.

Launched in September 2023 at the IAA Mobility show, our newest Capgemini Research Institute report takes a deep dive into the automotive supply chain. The report analyzes a recent survey of more than 1,000 industry leaders in 10 countries to see how successfully companies are juggling their priorities. Among other findings, it emerges that resilience has, of necessity, been a primary focus for automakers in recent times, while sustainability objectives often seem to have been deprioritized. The report then discusses how companies can transform the automotive supply chain to cope with a new landscape characterized by repeated disruption.

To provide additional insights into how the automotive supply chain must evolve, we’ve interviewed five groups of automotive supply chain specialists from across Capgemini Group. The resultant videos focus on four different possible priorities – resilience, sustainability, agility, and innovation – and in each case identify automotive supply chain trends that can help automakers achieve their goals. The videos also illustrate Capgemini’s breadth and depth of expertise and experience in tackling supply chain challenges in the automotive industry.

You’ll discover that trade-offs between objectives such as resilience and sustainability can often be avoided, because improvements in one area can also benefit others. For example, switching to local suppliers can improve both resilience and sustainability.

To learn more, please download our infographic overview, and then watch the videos summarizing our experts’ perspectives. Also available are a recent point of view report about transforming the automotive supply chain, and an IDC Industry Spotlight about automotive supply chain challenges and solutions, sponsored by Capgemini.

Together, we believe these resources will tell you a lot of what you need to know about the automotive supply chain. If you have more questions, or would like to discuss applying these ideas to your own business, please get in touch with our experts.