An analysis by Berylls Strategy Advisors of the ‘Top 100’ automotive suppliers shows an industry undergoing dramatic change in times of severe economic challenges.
But the research also shows certain sectors of the supply industry coping far better than others – for some very clear reasons.
Each year, Berylls, the international automotive management consultancy, lists the 100 largest automotive suppliers worldwide and identifies the risers and fallers in terms of revenue and profitability.
The research offers a valuable annual appraisal of the global automotive supply industry.
“Despite an impulsive US trade policy, Brexit chaos, and a cooling of the Chinese economy, in 2018 the ‘Top 100’ achieved an average growth in revenue of 7.6% year on year,” explains Dr. Jan Dannenberg, a Partner at Berylls, “but profitability was down, pretty well across the board.
“What we find most interesting are the reasons for these trends – the type of companies who are ‘winning’ and ‘losing’. A key cause of falling margins has been the need to invest heavily in future technologies, and the rapidly widening chasm between traditional ICE (internal combustion engine) industry, and suppliers of CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, electrified) technologies.
“Today, rightly or wrongly, there is a total focus on CASE technologies. Anything that isn’t connected to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, big data, autonomous driving, blockchain and so on, is barely noticed.”