GLOBAL VIEWPOINTS: technology leads the way

From fuel cells to flexible circuitry, advanced technologies are helping North American automakers and suppliers build vehicles that deliver increasingly high levels of safety, reliability, performance, and comfort/convenience. This first of a three-part annual series takes a broad look at how automotive companies in North America are using technology as a competitive advantage. Europe will be featured in June, Asia in August.

While layoff notice on top of layoff notice and declining vehicle sales clearly define an ailing North American automotive market-“an automotive industry recession,” Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg calls it-there is no evidence of correlating health issues relating to automotive technology innovation. ArvinMeritor's titanium exhaust on the 2001 Chevrolet Corvette and Delphi's four-wheel steering system that debuts on a 2002 General Motors full-size truck are examples of how technology marches forward, regardless of whether vehicle sales are moving in the same direction, as they did in 2000, or retreating, as they are in 2001. Advanced technologies by themselves may not have the power to lift the automotive industry out of its swoon for the remainder of the year, but they may lend a helping hand.

“We're going to decrease our emphasis on technological innovation” is a quote unlikely to pass the lips of any automotive industry executive. Which is not to say that companies should not, in Battenberg's words, keep their product portfolios “under constant surveillance”-especially when cost pressures are as great as they are now. The key is striking the right balance, which is why one is no more likely to hear an automotive executive saying, “We plan to develop technology for technology's sake.”