Big Data was a popular phrase last year, and will be for some time. However, they are not new. Since long has the science of learning from large amounts of data is a part of our daily lives.
Data science is more closely associated with marketing and sales than with manufacturing and design in the consumer industry. This branch of science is now being taken seriously by vehicle manufacturers who are using it to their advantage. Carwatch Weekly provides a weekly overview of recalls for vehicles published in the past calendar week. Our data is gathered from regional markets but we don’t claim to be 100% accurate.
Data usage in the automotive industry is on the rise
Many people will be familiar with the growing importance of data in vehicle servicing. Regular car services will involve downloading data from vehicles that have sensors that monitor wear and tear, and reporting on fuel efficiency, routes, and mileage.
These data are used by the big OEMs to create new products, fix faults, improve supply chain quality and redesign existing products. This data also impacts how businesses follow up on marketing and sales activity and creates a better customer experience. The automotive industry is becoming more complex. This creates huge amounts of data. However, it’s only the tip.
The lure of the industry attracts the geniuses
Silicon entrepreneurs are now helping the automotive industry. The automotive sector is a promising area for people who have made fortunes developing microprocessors that are used in storage systems and computers.
The automotive industry must compete with the security and banking sectors, which are very strong in data science and make very good salaries. Many of the data specialists the automotive industry must attract will have worked previously for start-up finance companies or marketing firms. These individuals were previously employed by automotive companies. They would have used data analytics to improve their marketing and not their cars. Because vehicle design can learn so much from data, concept design and data analysis are starting to come together.
Luxury brands such as Bentley have always had the ability to directly communicate with a small, but accessible customer market to get valuable feedback on product design. They can get feedback from customers through VIP events and other high-touch feedback methods. This allows them to learn about their preferences and how they would like to see the product evolve.
There is also the skills gap. Trends in pedagogy have led to more students graduating from sixth forms and colleges with good science and maths A’ levels over the past two years. This is just the beginning of a trend that has been ongoing for the past decade when there were not enough maths and science students to study at the undergraduate level.