Auto Consultant Says GM has Strong Leadership, Chrysler Nimble and Ford Needing Help
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| Michael J. Wujciak, vice president, Global Automotive Consulting for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young U.S. LLC. (Photo: CGEY.com) |
The Japanese automakers still lead the industry in their ability to gather information on consumer tastes and market conditions and release the right product, at the right time and at the lowest cost, noted Detroit-based management consultant Michael J. Wujciak in an interview.
An estimated 15 percent of an automaker's products need to be refreshed each year just to keep up with changing market conditions, said Wujciak, vice president, Global Automotive Consulting for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young U.S. LLC. In order to successfully design new cars, the auto industry, both car manufacturers and suppliers, could be using information gathered from car shopping websites, such as the one you are reading, to gather information.
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| Japanese are doing a better job in profiling potential customers than domestic manufacturers. (Photo: Nissan) |
"But, it is our belief that the auto industry is under leveraging the tools it has at its disposal," Wujciak said. "What we are seeing out there is an elite few, such as Johnson Controls, which does an awesome job with (information gathering and utilization)."
Toyota, Honda, and to some extent Nissan are further along than General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler in gathering and interpreting consumer data, Wujciak said. In his opinion, that's because the Japanese auto makers have traditionally had far fewer models, with far less complexity to worry about.