Taking the lead with sustainable transportation

The challenges and opportunities currently faced by commercial vehicle OEMs are significant and often exciting ones.

Tighter environmental regulation will compel them to shift their portfolio toward electric vehicles, whether battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Connected services will help achieve sustainability goals but also address much wider needs. Changes like these will force OEMs to look for new ways to innovate, both internally and externally.

This research report discusses three specific areas of focus that we believe are crucial for truck OEMs.

• SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION: OEMs are under pressure from governments, customers, and the public to reduce emissions from road transport. The question is which of the two candidate technologies to pursue: fuel cell electric vehicles or battery electric vehicles. We weigh up the pros and cons.
• CONNECTED SERVICES: Connected services bring major revenue opportunities, as well as helping customers. We unpick the relationship between service provision, service integration, and data monetization – potentially the biggest of the three.
• STRENGTHENING INNOVATION: Effective innovation is needed to deal with new technological demands, market disruption, and the move to digital. We discuss the latest models for stimulating internal innovation and for achieving it through outside partnerships.

We also highlight important differences between countries. By getting to grips with the issues described in the report, OEMs can secure a competitive edge in this dynamic new world, and perhaps blaze a trail for the automotive industry as a whole.