Innovation and Vehicle Architecture Development in A New Age of Architectural Competition

The automotive industry is going through fundamental change as new car architectures begin to compete in the market. If the new hybrid and electric vehicle offerings prove to gain traction, established firms that are slow to join in the market can be facing potential failure. However, if conventional cars outperform the new entrant vehicle architectures, these can disappear as rapidly as they gained popularity as explained in informational cascades theory. Automotive manufacturers can mitigate this uncertainty by focusing on vehicle architecture platforms alongside the traditional development process in order to filter new technology offerings that become relevant.