The main automobiles New affect E-drives and networking. The German car companies can more than keep up.
The Volkswagen Group According to a study, was once again the most innovative car manufacturer in the world in 2020. The Wolfsburg-based company landed at the “Automotive Innovations Award” from the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach Daimler and Tesla in first place.
The industry experts around institute director Stefan Bratzel evaluated, among other things, the number of technical innovations and world novelties for the ranking, also taking into account the degree of maturity and customer benefits of the inventions. Volkswagen scored among other things with the high electric range of its compact plug-in hybrids as well as with the developments for autonomous driving. The lane and orientation light of the Audi E-Tron and the VR head-up display of the VW ID.3 also achieved a good rating.
For this year's ranking, the CAM, together with the management consultancy pwc, analyzed the innovations of 30 global automobile manufacturers and startups with around 80 automobile brands. A total of 645 individual innovations were evaluated. In addition to the three overall winners, there were also good ratings for Ford and BYD, who qualified for second and third place in the volume brands behind VW. The Chinese group impressed above all with its battery innovations.
Among the premium brands, Mercedes came in ahead of BMW and Tesla. The most innovative model in 2020 was the Mercedes S-Class with its interior and connectivity innovations, followed by the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E. The award winners also include six suppliers, including the cooperation between Bosch and Weichai for the development of efficient diesel engines and the Chinese battery cell manufacturer CATL.
