GLOBAL VIEWPOINTS: Europe embraces the AT-factor

The central pillar on which the success of every international automotive company now rests is the AT-factor, which stands for advanced technology. This second of a three-part annual series takes a broad look at how automotive companies in Europe are using technology as a competitive advantage. Asia will be featured in August.

In little more than a couple of decades, the meaning and depth of modern technology applied throughout the global automotive industry has advanced by what once might have been regarded as science fiction proportions. It has permeated every aspect and every element of the creation and application of the automobile, and yet is still in its infancy.

In Europe and across the world, the AT-factor is even affecting the way customers choose and buy cars because the general public now has its own, individual AT-factor: the Internet. For the automotive industry, the burgeoning potential of technology in its fullest sense generates a gamut of emotions, ranging from excitement to concern. Its possibilities seem almost infinite in terms of reducing design lead-time, improving manufacturing processes, and enormously enhancing the services on which a driver and passengers can rely in terms of communication, information, safety, and efficiency.