Claire is a Content Marketing Manager on PTC's Commercial Marketing team. She creates content in support of PTC products and solutions.
On March 27, 2025, automotive executives from leading companies joined PTC at Motorworld Region Stuttgart in Böblingen for a day packed with exciting connection and conversation. Session topics reflected a clear focus on the industry’s top trends and challenges, with development speed sitting in the driver’s seat.
PTC’s EVP, Chief Product Officer Kevin Wrenn opened the event with a discussion on accelerating speed to market: a critical challenge for automakers today. In an industry defined by rapid innovation and driven by technological advancements, development speed is the ultimate currency to stay ahead of the competition. And today, the competition is fiercer than ever. OEMs across the globe are getting to market faster, pressuring traditional western automakers to adapt and keep up—or get left behind.
Vehicle complexity
The shift to software-defined vehicles is a major trend driving automotive innovation, forcing automakers to reconsider the focus on hardware that shaped vehicle development in the past. Vehicle complexity is one of the biggest roadblocks to accelerating development, and it was a major discussion point at the event as automakers race to get to market faster than ever before.
Facing the challenges of development complexity is difficult with siloed processes and disconnected systems. For leading automakers, integrating ALM and PLM can help mitigate silos, improve visibility, and simplify data management.
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Learn MoreQuality and compliance
In addition to slowing down vehicle development, silos and complexity can impact product quality: another leading topic of discussion among the customers presenting at the event. In the automotive industry, even small quality issues can lead to costly recalls and damage brand reputation.
Automakers leverage ALM and PLM solutions to ensure compliance with evolving regulatory standards and requirements, avoiding the risks—and the critical costs—of poor quality.
Digital thread
Trends and challenges are shaping automotive innovation and driving the need for solutions that improve cross-functional collaboration and communication. At the Executive Exchange, the digital thread emerged as a key topic. By creating an integrated solution chain and a digital thread of critical data, automakers can enhance transparency between teams, remove silos, and improve efficiency.
Artificial intelligence
Automotive leaders know that AI is both driving innovation today and shaping the future of the industry. AI streamlines the engineering process, as discussed at the event, and improves safety and sustainability in vehicles themselves.
What’s next for the automotive industry?
This event brought together experts and industry leaders and highlighted key challenges for OEMs in the automotive industry, from overcoming silos and making processes more efficient to navigating new trends like the rise of SDVs and digitization. While their top innovation drivers are always evolving, one thing remains constant for our customers: full buy-in across the organization is crucial when implementing solutions for digital transformation.
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