Future Business Model for OEMs in the Automotive Industry Business Model Adaptation Based on the Role an OEM Takes in a Future Business Network

Many trends are affecting the automotive industry today and the whole industry is expected to change rapidly the coming years. OEMs in the industry need to adapt their business models to these trends to stay competitive. This thesis has identified challenges and opportunities with the new way of selling mobility and aims to provide guidance to OEMs in the automotive industry that need to reposition. To identify key success factors in a future business model, two things have been analyzed. First, how the OEM can adapt to a more service-based business model. Literature about servitization and business models have been combined with findings from interviews. The findings are from interviewed companies that are from other industries and have service-based business models to some extent. To succeed with service-based business models, OEMs need to work with modularization, not only for products but also for services and in the interaction with customers. They also need to focus on customers’ needs rather than wants, handle parallel business models and set up the right organizational structure as well as make sure that they have the right KPIs and measurements to create the right incentives both internally and for customers. Second, a model of a future business network has been designed to identify the roles that will be needed in the future. The business network has been used to analyze two of many different strategies an OEM in the automotive industry can take, either taking the role as just OEM or taking the roles as both OEM and owner of the mobility solutions. Interviews with companies that have comparable roles as the ones in the future business network have been conducted and used to identify important factors to consider in the business model when being a part of the future business network. Competence within the business network, market maturity, and target customers affect which role an OEM can take in the business network model. Guaranteeing uptime will be important for both roles but when taking the fleet owner role, OEMs must also be able to offer a total solution which is cost efficient and adapted to customers’ needs. This thesis provides an understanding for a future business network in the automotive industry and the implications it will have on OEMs as well as presenting success factors of service-based business models. This thesis will therefore help OEMs in the automotive industry reposition and succeed when new mobility solutions are emerging