OEM & Lieferant Ausgabe 2/2019 - OEM & Supplier 2/2019 by VEK Publishing

151 Interior How consumer insights and innovation ecosystems drive the future mobility experience By Faurecia Automotive GmbH The automotive industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation – as a leading technology company it is now, more than ever, essential to lead the way for innovations that respond quickly – both to changing consumer needs as well as demands of the automotive industry in an everchanging world. Thorough research, a strong in- novation ecosystem and early anticipation of new developments are the key components to staying competitive. Automotivemegatrends (connected and autonomous vehicles, ride-shar- ing and electrification) are trans- forming the automotive industry. Together with significant societal changes, such as rapid urbanization and demographic shifts, the need to rethink mobility is increasing fast. A few figures illustrate just how rapidly the automotive world is changing: while in 1960, 80% of Eu- ropeans lived to 70 years of age, by 2030 this number is expected to rise to 85 years old. In the space of just under 60 years, the proportion of people living in urban areas has in- creased from one third to over 50%. Also, 66% of the increase in world GDP has come from Asia, a region that will continue to lead the growth. All this requires the industry to adapt mobility solutions to evolving trends, needs and expectations of consumers and OEMs. Understanding the changing needs that shape the industry “Our collective challenge is combining consumer research, OEM demands and constraints as well as our technology expertise to shape new user experiences,” explains Patrick Koller, CEO of Faurecia. “At Faurecia, we bring con- sumer insight into every step of our product lifecycle – from ideation, prioritizing new fea- tures, developing products to exploring mo- bility experiences throughout the serial life of a vehicle. This involves a range of direct and indirect information gathering using artificial intelligence, from social media listening, ana- lyzing keywords and sentiment in consumer videos to digital surveying techniques that help to assess the impact of technologies on the perception and behavior of vehicle users.“ The result is a better understanding about what’s important to consumers – such as free- dom (mobility wherever, whenever), afford- ability, safety and a seamless digital continuity between home, office, and car. A Research, conducted on autonomous driving between June 2016 and December 2018, revealed that 46% of people put making the most of the time spent in a car at the top of their priori- ties. All these insights helped Faurecia in fine tuning its strategic focus, by improving safety, personalizing the onboard experience and creating interiors adapted to new usages as part of the versatile, predictive and connected Cockpit of the Future. New technologies and enhanced experiences – the keys to future mobility “Our ultimate goal is to enhance people’s mo- bility experience, but without increasing the overall cost of the car for consumers. Integrat- ing new technologies enables Faurecia to do this,” states Patrick Koller. “With regards to the instrument panel and display cluster, for instance, it’s now easier and more cost-effec- tive to integrate advanced functionalities into one intelligent and intuitive system compared to connecting a series of different electro-me- chanical components. Or sound systems that activate the surfaces in the car. Eliminating the use of loudspeakers reduces the system weight by about 60%, saves cost and significantly increases design freedom whilst giving a better consumer experience.” Having identified consumer needs and matched this with customer benefits, Faurecia needs to bring new solutions to market quickly. Hence Fau- recia as a systems integrator is working collaboratively as part of an ecosystem with partners who contribute knowledge and expertise to enable the company to offer new technology bricks. To name some of the partners, Faurecia is working with MAHLE for personalized thermal comfort, with ZF for safety systems, with Accenture for artificial intelligence and its own digital transformation, with Hitachi for a global offer in autonomous driving, with Michelin to create a global leader in hydrogen mobility, and with Microsoft as a global partner for cloud services. This tech- nology ecosystem allows Faurecia to progress fast but step by step, developing smarter solu- tions that are already going into serial produc- tion to enhance user experiences and provide cleaner mobility. Faurecia SE www.faurecia.com Faurecia Automotive GmbH www.faurecia.de Websites Image: © Faurecia Faurecia – Cockpit of the Future