[whiteboardr]

Get out if you can!

Spent 7 years at the three pointed star within design and UX - one day, when i’m over all i had to witness and experience i’ll write a book about the downfall of the german automotive industry.

It’s all politics and due to constant battles and changing ownership throughout departments they won’t ever have a solid foundation. And i dare to assume that this goes for most of the automotive industry.

It’s sad to see that a once driving force of innovation is stumbling over its own arrogance and ignorance.

A major factor contributing to this are cost saving measures from the early 2000s where most of them stopped in-house research and development giving most of the work to contractors - a very expensive cost saving measure long term.

We’re down to them using “technology” as a seasoning for consumption like a fancy restaurant - very little long term thinking.

[vachina]

Yeah, and then those contractors (like Continental) has sub-contractors (like Akka) and they have sub-sub-contractors (some random Indian software company) working on the side mirror winding logic.

In German cities with automotive industry, you’ll find thousands of these satellite companies.

[rapsey]

And in Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Slovenia, etc.

[0xFNaaNg]

> downfall of the german automotive industry

I hear that kind of statements all the time but if you take like real important car things germans are (still) pretty good: their cars handle really well, powertraian usually works perfectly smooth (or sporty), ergonomics is good to perfect, it will not rust for decades, list goes on ... The real things killing germans I think: cars are expensive and unreliable

[whiteboardr]

The main topic is software and it is still treated like a part you can just outsource and plug in.

Since cars are primarily being bought by sculptural aesthetics of the exterior and above all their brand they continue being bought for those who feel the need of a status symbol.

At the core there is still a lack of a long term strategy and above all stability to build on - not saying it is an easy task.

In the end the customer has to suffer with abysmal usability, reliability and ever changing mental models. And don’t get me started about the touchscreens everywhere situation…

It isn’t just software though - VW moving development and above all production engineering and planning to china since they failed coming up with an efficient solution in Wolfsburg is basically saying it all. [1]

Dire times ahead and i hope for the best.

[1] https://youtu.be/4AprfR8Xkio?si=xKXUdgt5BRyZKRNE

[fragmede]

Given that the driving characteristics of most of the cars on the road don't match a BMW, what're the real "real important car things"? The revealed preference seems to be that the things you listed aren't actually that important. Long term cost is. Maintenance cost is. Not having to bring your car to the dealership for service is. Having the car have a long lifetime is. Handling well is nice; sporty drivetrain is nice; but that sort of stuff is clearly just a luxury, and the bottom dropped out of the luxury market recently (see: LVMH restructuring). If you're going to buy a sporty luxury car, why not get a Porsche or something with more cachet? Obviously there are reasons, but BMW's in an awkward position.

[0xFNaaNg]

> what're the real "real important car things"?

A good design from engineering standpoint. You feel it just instantly when you use the product. Interior is nice and will accommodate just about every possible driver comfortably with every control reachable. Suspension just works frkn great no matter how it was tuned (sporty or comfortable) and no matter how simple the design is. Same for drivetrain, you will acelerate/decelerate precisely how much you'd expect. And it's not a luxury it's a norm, even cheapest german or french cars have all this things sorted out. I'm speaking for the EU market though)

[mlrtime]

Agreed, Germany still makes some of the best cars in the world. Who is making them better?

[slaw]

Huawei,Xiaomi,Xpeng.

For example

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maextro_S800