With the The robot shuttle that Volkswagen wanted to provide for the soccer World Cup in Qatar will not work after allHowever, overall, the car manufacturer from Wolfsburg brings up the most technological innovations in an international comparison of manufacturers. This is the result of the annual innovation ranking of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). “The German automobile manufacturers are doing very well so far from an innovation point of view,” said CAM director Stefan Bratzel on Sunday. For the first time, three Chinese automotive groups also made it into the top ten in the innovation ranking.
For the ranking, the car experts analyzed the technological innovations of 30 global car manufacturers with a total of around 80 car brands. 654 technological innovations were recorded individually and rated according to criteria such as originality and customer benefit.
The result: Volkswagen achieved an index value of 149 with a total of 67 innovations, including 24 world novelties, and thus landed ahead Daimler with an index value of 133 in first place. The Wolfsburg-based company had already topped the ranking last year. Took third place Tesla with an index value of 93.
Volkswagen scored particularly well with innovations in the field of electromobility and user interfaces, as Bratzel explained. Daimler impressed with the innovations in the field of autonomous driving. Tesla improved by three places compared to the previous year, among other things because of the high charging power and range of its models.
Best Chinese manufacturer in fifth place
Even BMW did well with 88 index points and ended up in fourth place. The Chinese manufacturer SAIC follows in fifth place, and with Great Wall and Geely two other Chinese automobile groups made it into the top ten.
Japanese and French corporations, on the other hand, landed at the bottom of the innovation ranking. The world’s largest automobile manufacturer Toyota only came in 13th, Honda came in 18th. Renault and PSA deteriorated year-on-year and took 14th and 17th place, respectively.
“The paradigmatic change in the industry can only be mastered through a high level of innovation on the part of the players,” explained Bratzel. However, many automobile manufacturers did not have the necessary resources and skills to successfully develop innovations. They are therefore dependent on extensive cooperation.
German automakers have done well in terms of innovations so far. In future, however, in addition to Tesla, they would also have to deal with new, innovative competitors China that are well positioned in the core fields of electromobility, networking and autonomous driving, “warned Bratzel.