Automobile Industry in the New Information Age - Essay Example

The Automobile Industry Entry Into the New Age With Information Technology There are numerous issues facing the automobile industry today, as all major players make their own attempt to snag a share of the worldwide market. While the 'Big Three' American auto makers continue to lose market share to the Japanese manufacturers, such as Toyota and Renault/Nissan, everyone is still looking for that edge that may make them stand out from their competitor. Information Technology (IT) has become important in the industry, not simply to add gadgets to vehicles (like GPS or On Star), but also to help streamline manufacturing processes, inventories, payroll, or accounting practices. This paper will examine ways that the automobile industry is attempting to enter the age of expanded information technology. INTRODUCTION Technology has been a part of automobiles, in one form or another, for quite some time now. In the 1960s and 1970s the typical 'backyard mechanic' could invariably be found tinkering on his pride and joy - his car. Whether it has brand new, or a collector's item, the fact was that just about anyone with any mechanical aptitude at all and a set of wrenches could do any number of standard repair jobs on a vehicle back then. But, times have certainly changed - and it happened before we even knew it. Where once, you could open a car hood and identify just about everything under there, today, you might just as well be looking at components of the space shuttle. It started small enough - a computer brain to control some of the car's basic functions. However, to even attempt to perform any repairs on a modern vehicle, practically requires a degree from MIT. Of course, technology has surpassed merely the practical applications to improve performance. The sagging automobile industry has also been turning to the field of information technology to find ways to improve sales. It is only the course of good business practice to use the best currently available technology to improve your company's products and business, and the automotive industry has certainly attempted to do so. 1. HOW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AFFECTS CONSUMERS 1.1 Giving the customers what they want. 1.1.1 Automobile manufacturers of the 21st century need to provide more value to the consumer for the money they are spending. With so much competition, foreign and domestic, the consumer has more choices today than ever before - and they know it. A customer will not simply purchase the first thing they see, but will compare and contrast makes and models - as well as features and accessories. Not only do consumers want options on their vehicle, they are also demanding options in ways to make the purchase. Enter information technology. 1.1.2 Entering the auto industry's second century, there are clearly powerful signs of change that could foretell the next dominant production standard. At the core of many of these changes is the Internet, which is already transforming how information is used and how coordination is managed in this most complex of industries. According to Holweg and Pil, in a book published by MIT Press in 2004, E-business offers tremendous potential for reducing waste and inefficiency, redistributing activities along the value chain, and providing new means for collaboration. These benefits will become evident in product development, procurement, manufacturing, and distribution separately, but the greatest impact will result from end-to-end integration of the value chain, from the final customer back to initial product planning. Consumer desires for customization will challenge the industry's long-established push approach to distribution and sales. As expectations are raised by information technology experiences in other parts of their lives, e-powered consumers will be drawn towards build-to-order models where they play a co-design role and production is pulled by real-time information about their preferences (MIT Press 2004). 1.1.3 For both the manufacturer and the dealer, this opportunity is substantial. By better understanding the customer's needs and preferences, they also begin to understand which customers create the most value for them. By combining a better understanding of customer needs with a more precise targeting of their most profitable customers, manufacturers and dealers can focus spending on retaining and growing relationships with their most valued customers. The buying experience is increasingly predicated on a new relationship, in which the entire value network - the automaker, its suppliers, the dealer, and the customer - are collaborating to build each customer his or her own 'perfect car'. ''Behind all this'', says BMW chairman Dr. Joachim Milberg, ''is a principle: the customer's desires and specifications for the individual car drive the process, not the vehicle BMW has planned." (Benko, C. and MaFarlan, W. (2003) Metamorphosis in the auto industry. Strategy and Leadership, p. 4). 1.1.4 The opportunity for a relationship between consumers and dealers extends far beyond the car purchase as cars evolve into electronic appliances. Currently, Delphi Automotive Systems estimates that a modern car is made up of 22 percent electronic content. This number is expected to increase to 40 percent by the year 2013. In the near future, via wireless Internet connectivity, the car, its owner, and the manufacturer will be in continuous communication. In practical terms, these electronics will both monitor the car's vital systems and deliver information services to the driver. An example, GM's OnStar service, today has some 2 million subscribers and executes approximately 14 million transactions a month. The availability of wireless connectivity (or 'telematics', as the industry calls it) will continue to grow. The Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications estimates that 42 million cars in Japan will be equipped with online navigation systems by 2015 - up from 5.5 million cars today. (Benko, C. and MaFarlan, W. (2003) Metamorphosis in the auto industry. Strategy and Leadership, p. 6). 1.1.5 Use of the Internet in the automobile industry has been expanding in various other ways, as well. According to an article in Internet Week, in 2002, Ford Motor Company moved to an on-site version of Ask Jeeves corporate natural language search technology, replacing a hosted version of the Jeeves system it had been using for the past two years. Ford gets more than 11,000 customer queries daily on its customer Web sites. The Jeeves platform lets users ask their questions in plain English - "Is cruise control standard on a Ford Escape" - and receive search results based on their questions. Prior to 2002, Ford used Jeeves Answers, a hosted version of the Ask Jeeves product for corporate users. It is now implementing JeevesOne, a server-based version of the technology that Ford will run and manage on its own. Ford took its use of Jeeves to the next level by using the intelligence gained by answering questions to create and deploy more customer-driven Web site content, the company said. Ford offers the Jeeves system in both English and Spanish on its website (Internet Week 2002). 1.2 Customer Satisfaction Through Technology 1.2.1 As mentioned earlier, telematics is a technology that appeals to more and more consumers. Telematics is actually about enabling vehicles for wireless services and communication. More and more automakers are integrating such telematics solutions into their vehicles. At the moment, the most sought-after applications are navigation and audio entertainment (such as XM or Sirius satellite radio). Juergen Za, marketing manager for Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit in Europe, reports that a study by Strategy Analytics from May 2004 predicts that these two segments will continue to grow exponentially in the years to come as well. By the end of 2010, 12.2 million navigation systems will have been shipped in Europe, Japan, and North America, according to the analysts - an increase of 7.9 million with regard to 2002 figures. One of the biggest growth opportunities in this area will be off board dynamic navigation via wireless devices such as cellular phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). (Husat, D. (2005). Paradigm shift towards partnership in the automotive industry. Automotive Purchasing News. March 2005) 1.2.2 The continued improvements of an assortment of technology applications will also drive the telematics segment. One of the results will be that more standardised solutions are being integrated into automobiles. As these systems can be produced in high-volume numbers their development costs will be significantly reduced, making them more affordable for a larger number of consumers. This, of course, is one of the primary reasons for auto manufacturers to invest in technology in the first place - improving sales through increased consumer interest. Simultaneously, mass production simplifies updating and upgrading as most of the same software can be used for most systems. 1.2.3 The new technology is not just a novelty item - it is actually being used by consumers. "In the five years we've been operating, OnStar has delivered 10 million customer interactions," says Chet Huber, president of OnStar. "One out of four General Motors cars has OnStar - that's 5,000 new subscribers every day. And now many other car brands, including Acura, Audi, Honda, Lexus, Saab and Subaru, will offer OnStar services as well." Free for the first 12 months, basic service costs $199 a year, which Huber says is about what it costs annually to keep a cell phone in the car. "To remain competitive, every vehicle in the country will have to be able to deliver at least the basic telematics services," he predicts. (Ashley, S. (2001) Driving the Info Highway, Scientific American, 00368733, Oct2001, Vol. 285, Issue 4) Looking ahead, engineers are working on ways to avoid built-in dashboard displays, which tend to become obsolete relatively quickly, with new technology that integrates a driver's PDA into the vehicle system via a center-mounted docking cradle. The PDA would serve as the visual interface. It would even automatically transfer to the vehicle the motorist's personal information, such as fuel or restaurant brand preference, seat position settings, regular commuting routes and daily work schedule. 1.3 Safety Issues -Industry Strengths 1.3.1 According to John McCormick with Automotive Industries trade journal, lane departure warning systems are among the hot trends in new technology reaching dealer showrooms for the 2005 model year. Already, Nissan's luxury division, Infiniti, is offering a system, developed by Iteris and supplied by Valeo, on its 2005 FX45 sport utility vehicle, Infiniti's second application of the Valeo LaneVue system will be on its 2006 M performance sedan, which goes on sale next spring. In Europe, Valeo is also supplying the system to the 2005 C4 and C5 sedans from Citroen, recently introduced at the Paris auto show. Similar systems to these passenger vehicle applications have been in production for some time on commercial vehicles and behind-the-scenes large automakers, including Ford and Daimler-Chrysler, are working on more widespread use of the technology. (McCormick, J. (2004). Crash avoidance goes high-tech: taking lane departure warning systems to the next level. Automotive Industries. November 2004). 1.3.2 In 2002, Audi announced that it was beginning to perform safety testing on its vehicles using high tech methodology, and the initial solution was an integrated Linux cluster system based on the Intel Xeon processor The advantages of the solution for Audi's virtual test environment are clear: without consuming material and without risk of incorrect experimental arrangements, the cluster calculates virtually any plausible crash scenario. In conjunction with crash simulations, Audi uses the tool to supplement crash simulations to improve vehicle safety. 1.3.3 Safety has traditionally been viewed by most as the important, albeit dull, technical, and even boring part of the auto industry. That is until safety met the high-tech world of the computer age. Suddenly, safety is cool and it's out of this world. As far back as 2001, the auto industry began revealing the next generation in safety-related technology at the New York International Automobile Show. The following is a list of the innovations that were introduced there: Adaptive Cruise Control: Already a reality on a number of cars. It's primary purpose is to eventually allow vehicles to 'wagon train' on highways-each car being kept a safe distance from the car in front, via automatic braking. Steer-by-Wire: The system operates along the same principles as aircraft that fly-by-wire. There are no mechanical connections between the steering wheel and the steering gear. Ultimately active steering will allow cars to communicate their position to each other and be able to automatically take preventative action to avoid collisions. Lane Departure Warning Systems: A sensitive camera detects the position and direction of a vehicle within a lane. From the information received the system can determine whether an unintended lane departure is imminent, and give a warning. Adjustable Engine Management: Modified engine management software can be automatically downloaded via the satellite navigation system. This interaction can be used to remotely diagnosis and correct engine malfunction. Brake-by-Wire: This braking system uses electronic signals from the brake pedal to communicate with the 'high-pressure' brake reservoir. Occupant Detection: Ultrasonic occupant detection ensures that if passengers are positioned too close to the airbag, it will be automatically be disabled, or if the passenger seat is empty, it won't deploy. Eye detection systems which automatically adjust the seat and rear mirror for the best view could also soon be available. Rain Sensor: The rain sensor was originally introduced to provide automatically adjustable intermittent wipers. The development of the system could enable the rain sensors to give instructions to the brake-by-wire system to continuously apply the brakes during wet weather conditions so that the discs stay as dry as possible. Exterior Cameras: 'Blind spots' can be a thing of the past with the integration of tiny cameras into doors and mirrors on the sides and rear of the car. Stability Controls: The key to the 'intelligent car' is the numerous sensors integral to systems such as the ABS, Dynamic Stability Control, tire pressure monitor, auto cruise control and even automatic wipers. Heartbeat Sensor: Registering both human and animal heartbeats when the car is parked, the sensor is activated if anyone breaks into the car and hides inside it - or if a child or pet is left inside by mistake. Advanced feature rear-view mirror: Integrated LED lighting, compass and temperature displays, tire-pressure warnings, voice recognition or TRIP functions are a blink of an eye away. ("Safety is High-Tech Cool." (2001) Disk Drive March 15, 2001). 1.4 Threats to safety related to technology 1.4.1 Notwithstanding the technology's potential, safety and other issues related to its use are yet to be determined. The current debate over the use of handheld cell phones in cars implies that the telematics human-machine interfaces, and how drivers use them, will be critical. "For many - mostly societal - reasons, consumers are importing a whole series of portable devices into their vehicles for use when they're driving: cell phones, laptops, personal digital assistants," says Bob Lange, executive director of safety integration at GM's Safety Center in Warren, Mich. "First of all, people are spending more of their time commuting. And since everyone's being subjected to a major time squeeze as well as increasing pressure to be more productive, more and more of these devices are going to be used in the car. Automakers have to be cognizant of these trends and [work] to make it possible for consumers to use these devices safely." (Ashley, S. (2001) Driving the Info Highway, Scientific American, 00368733, Oct2001, Vol. 285, Issue 4) 1.4.2 To avoid a potentially harmful regulatory backlash and avoid product-liability lawsuits, telematics providers are focusing on crucial, but still relatively immature and otherwise potentially problematic technologies, such as voice-recognition/voice-activation systems and head-up displays. This equipment will allow drivers to use wireless technology without taking their eyes off the road or their hands off the wheel. But how about ensuring that the driver's mind stays on the task of driving How much interaction, or cognitive distraction, can a driver handle before he or she loses focus on the road ahead According to safety specialists, cognitive distraction is one of four general types of driver distraction. The others are visual, auditory and biomechanical. But cognitive distraction, which can occur while contemplating business or personal matters, remembering a list of spoken instructions or even listening to a synthesized voice, is much more elusive and difficult to measure than the other types. What is known is that it diminishes the operator's awareness of the driving situation. 1.4.3 Many experts warn that even if reliable crash-avoidance systems become available, they will never offset dangerous activities of human behavior. Advances in car safety often flounder against other factors that work to keep death rates up. Anti-lock brakes, for example, have become common, but studies show people are using them to take more risks in their stopping habits. Cell phones, navigation computers and entertainment systems pose unprecedented distractions to drivers. Drunk driving is up. Speed is up, along with horsepower and speed limits. "You never know if an incremental upgrade [in safety] isn't counterbalanced by a change in risk-taking by the people," said the University of Michigan's Ervin. "It's like everybody has a certain total level of risk they're willing to tolerate." (Schneider, G. (2003). "Deadly Driving Trend Alters Safety Focus." Washington Post, May 3, 2003; Page E01) 2. HOW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AFFECTS MANUFACTURERS 2.1 Realizing the opportunities 2.1.1 For many years, especially in North America, the relationship between the automaker and its suppliers were adversarial. In their unrelenting efforts to increase profits while holding down prices, traditional manufacturers were heavy-handed, often imposing cost reductions that cut deeply into suppliers' margins. In 2000, in a remarkable example of how far collaboration can extend in the industry, the traditional 'Big Three' of Detroit (GM, Ford, and Daimler-Chrysler)- along with Renault and Nissan - banded together to launch a digital marketplace called Covisint. By building a system based on open standards, the industry is integrating and eliminating the expensive process of developing proprietary point-to-point connections. Covisint's members now include representatives of the entire value network. In 2001 alone, one year after the launch of the new system, GM auctioned approximately $100 billion through Covisint. It should be noted that, although it's not clear yet what form Covisint will ultimately take, the venture does illustrate the direction in which value networks will move to reduce friction. As the manufacturers better understand that they can create the most unique value by focusing their time and attention on key activities - marketing, sales, and product design - they are increasingly leaving the job of production to others. (Benko, C. & McFarlan, W. (2003). Metamorphosis in the auto industry. Strategy and Leadership. VOL. 31 NO. 4, p 7). 2.1.2 Another example of a company taking advantage of opportunities in technology is Toyota Motors, which is moving to a horizontal and cooperative model for software development to meet the increasing demand for more sophisticated and widespread automotive electronics. Traditionally, Japanese designers in the automotive industry have developed software for single applications instead of using standardized software platforms upon which vendors could build myriad applications, according to Koichi Tanigawa, general manager of the development department at the integrated-system-engineering division of the vehicle engineering group of Toyota. He recently spoke at the Presale Technology Forum Japan 2005 in Tokyo. With the increased use of micro controllers and sensors in such automotive applications as vehicle control, safety, and pollution control, automotive electronics have become hot markets. Fulfilling the needs of those applications requires a lot more software development, he says. In the Japanese-automotive industry, suppliers and automotive manufacturers have a vertical-integration relationship, in which conventional and limited suppliers deliver components to automotive manufacturers. This approach makes suppliers a type of subsidiary of the automakers in vertical-integration systems. For instance, Toyota has developed its own dedicated software. On the other hand, as the amount of the software increases, it is using multiple developers to develop individual layers, including the operating system, middleware, and applications. (Mamoto, T. (2005). "Japanese automotive software goes horizontal." EDN Japan Reed Business Information). 2.1.3 Based on the changes that are already under way, the automobile factory of the future will be smaller, leaner, and more market-responsive. Instead of being intended to create 750,000 more or less identical cars each year, the new factory will be designed to produce 200,000 vehicles customized to their customers' wishes. These factories will also be able to shift and change at market speed. For example, instead of taking the one or two months traditionally required to retool an automotive factory, Honda can reorganize and reprogram its entire operations overnight cutting production downtime to as few as three and a half days - a 56 percent decrease since 1998. With the ability to change production in a matter of hours, rather than weeks, companies are far better equipped to deal with an increasingly unpredictable competitive environment. (Taylor, A. (2002) "Honda goes its own way," Fortune, 22 July 2002.) 2.2 Potential to lower costs 2.2.1 The enormous interest in on-line business-to-business marketplaces obviously suggests that networked communications will significantly affect the economic structure of supply networks as well as the costs of the underlying activities in the automotive industry. This has a number of components. Transactions costs of purchasing will undoubtedly fall. Clerical work will become automated, and go on both faster and more reliably. Processes - needs identification, vendor selection, review and approval - will work much faster and efficiently. The new communications technologies also offer opportunities for aggregating orders that seem likely to have large consequences for costs. These have three main elements. All derive from the fact that web-based procurement makes advertisement of requirements and terms cheap and enhances the likelihood of receiving comparable bids. This is of the first importance in an industry with a typical cost-share of materials of nearly 50% for many companies and products. 2.2.2 The manufacturing system itself may well change in highly significant ways. Here, there are at least three important possibilities. First, networked communications may lead to improved manufacturability within the set of activities the OEM's continue to carry out. Such improvements may result as an added benefit of networked product development activities in enhancing design for manufacturability. In turn, improved manufacturability may reduce scrap and setup/changeover times as well as reducing assembly times and complexity, all resulting from the reduced amount of real-time process engineering required by factory personnel who often must find ways to compensate for difficult-to-manufacture designs. Second, having electronic linkages permeate the factory floor should enhance real-time quality improvement, downtime reduction, and every other communication-intensive function in the factory. In addition, due to reduced transaction and search costs, an environment of fast and flexible communication across the automotive supply chain may lead to a greater use of common modules across automotive manufacturers and first-tier suppliers. This modularity, in turn, can encourage firms to outsource greater portions of the manufacturing enterprise as firms begin to specialize in certain kinds of modules. (Fine, C. & Raff, D. (2001). The Economic Payoff from the Internet Revolution. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.) 2.3 RFID technology 2.3.1 On its factory floor, General Motors Corp. has begun mounting wireless terminals on its material-delivery fork trucks. Truck operators get real-time updates for material requests to deliver vehicle parts to the production line in a just-in-time manner. GM contends that using a wireless fork truck makes its operators more responsive, so the company requires fewer overall employees to deliver materials to the production-line side. Two other factory-floor wireless initiatives drive efficiencies at GM plants. The automated guided-vehicles system employs wireless connections to route a specific car to the next logical point in the assembly process. And a new application for PDAs gives team leaders up-to-the-second information on problems that need immediate attention. Cutting the time it takes a technician to repair a vehicle is the goal behind a wireless pilot test at a JM Family Enterprises Inc. Toyota dealership. The company, which focuses on vehicle distribution and processing, finance, and warranty services and insurance, is testing a wireless headset with a flip-down screen called Nomad from Microvision Inc. Using retinal-scanning display technology, the tiny screen casts pages of an auto-repair manual directly onto the mechanic's retina. A touch pad worn on the belt allows the mechanic to change pages. Technicians don't automatically take to words and images being projected onto their retinas, but they adjust in a short time, says Tom Holmes, JM Family's technology VP. He estimates the device should increase technician productivity by more than 30%. "Technicians don't have to stop work, put down their tools, and go to a computer to look up instructions in a manual," Holmes says. "They have it right there in front of them." (Chabrow, E. (2005). "Wireless Revs UP Vehicle Production, " InformationWeek, 8750-6874, September 19, 2005, Issue 1056). 3. THE FUTURE OF IT IN THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY 3.1 Industry weaknesses 3.1.1 The automotive industry is plagued by prices that decline faster than costs. This includes not only prices that consumers pay for automobiles but also the prices original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) pay their suppliers. No matter whether you consider the issues facing a dealer, an OEM, or a supplier, the ultimate challenge is striking a balance between pleasing customers and justifying costs. The question is, how do companies enhance product and service offerings and simultaneously reduce costs North American OEMs have tried carrying more inventory and offering massive sales incentives, including the famous "employee discounts" for all customers, to address the challenge of getting the right vehicle to the right customer at the right price. Unfortunately, this has resulted only in "profitless prosperity" (especially companies like GM are known to be losing money on each vehicle sold). 3.2 The need for progressive thinking 3.2.1 In the normal scheme of things, companies map out and then analyze their existing ways of doing business and make slow, incremental improvements. There is a need to go much farther than that for the auto industry to successfully enter fully into the new information age. Radical new procedures and policies must be implemented to substantially improve effectiveness, quality, flexibility and productivity. This means companies can rapidly and accurately respond to any market changes. Such innovation can - and must - occur anywhere along the industry supply chain; in research, product design, procurement, logistics, manufacturing, marketing, or even customer service. 3.3 Support from technology - the case of EDS 3.3.1 An agile technology infrastructure that supports the business strategy of a company can help protect profit margins. According to a Popular Science article on EDS, an information technology company, the best way to manage costs to protect margins is through lean manufacturing, plant transformation, simplified enterprise support functions and supply chain flexibility. One of EDS' automotive supplier clients needed to reduce application and hosting costs. EDS consolidated more than 600 servers in 155 locations across North America into 100 servers maintained in three locations, with one single domain and common support model. In addition, EDS has allowed automotive suppliers to evaluate and transform their plant operations to be leaner. One such supplier lowered its unit cost by 5 percent, cut floor space by 100,000 square feet, increased productivity by 40 percent through new routing and reduced its manpower requirements by 11 percent. (Albus, J. (2005). "Headline From the Future," Popular Science, 01617370, Vol. 267, Issue 5). 3.3.2 It is a fact that strengthening customer relationships is critical to protecting and growing market share. A look at an OEM's South American operations provides an excellent example. Economy cars account for about 60 percent of all vehicles sold in South America. This focus on value has made the region an ideal market for Web-based dealers. One automaker's virtual dealership Web site proved so popular that within a year, nearly 70 percent of the sales of its most in demand model were made via the Internet. Competitors were improving their own online initiatives, so the automaker turned to EDS to maintain its competitive advantage via a more comprehensive Internet sales tool. These are the types of initiatives that will be needed for the auto industry to continue to grow. 3.4 Future trends 3.4.1 More dealers will begin to operate like Honda - agents that carry very little inventory of vehicles. Instead, by the use of technology, auto companies will be able to offer similar service levels as currently, with fewer vehicles. 3.4.2 Real-time information on customer demand from varying sources (websites, internal databases, and information on competitor's sales trends) will improve demand management, which will allow automobile manufacturers to more closely produce their exact needs according to customer specifications. 3.4.3 Technology will enable real-time order visibility every step along the supply chain, from equipment manufacturers to suppliers. 3.4.4 Online warranty counseling will enable the supplier to participate early on in the diagnostic process. 3.4.5 Suppliers will be able to collaborate online to develop and deliver high-quality, integrated modular systems in record time. 3.4.6 Digital testing and release of vehicles accomplished in a virtual environment. 3.4.7 Robot Cars: Fifteen years after the first autonomous tank rolled onto the battlefield, the long-promised robotic car finally hits American highways. This year, several car manufacturers will offer the option of a "robot chauffeur" under the dash for an extra $10,000. Remarkably, the robot's brain packs more computational power than the average human driver - and it still fits in the glove box. To predict the safest and most expeditious route through traffic, software collects and analyzes sensor data 30 times a second, Building a four-dimensional model - three spatial, one temporal - of the entire roadway. Once the robot reaches its destination, it parks itself and wails for its pickup orders on a built-in cell phone. (Albus, James. (2005). "Headline From the Future," Popular Science, 01617370, Vol. 267, Issue 5.) CONCLUSION As has been demonstrated throughout this paper, the automobile is facing one of the biggest challenges in its history. The marketplace has changed, the consumer has changed, the economy has changed - and these changes necessitate a change to advanced technology that will keep pace with the future. The automobile industry has, from the early days of assembly-line production of the Ford Model-T, to the current use of computer 'brains' to run most electronic functions in cars, been accepting of new technology as it has developed. The current trend for ever more advances in information technology and its offshoots will require these companies to keep looking forward, and not backward, as they need to streamline and consolidate every aspect of their operations to remain in business. As stated at the outset of this paper, Information Technology (IT) has become important in the industry, not simply to add gadgets to vehicles (like GPS or On Star), but also to help streamline manufacturing processes, inventories, payroll, or accounting practices. This paper has examined the various ways that the automobile industry is attempting to enter the age of expanded information technology - and what will be possible for the future. It is certainly a golden age for the consumer. 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