The global crisis the automotive industry has slipped into over the
second half of 2008 has set a fierce spotlight not only on which cars
are the right ones to bring to the market but also on how these cars are
developed. Be it OEMs developing new models, suppliers integerating
themselves deeper into the development processes of different OEMs,
analysts estimating economical risks and opportunities of automotive
investments, or even governments creating and evaluating scenarios for
financial aid for suffering automotive companies: At the end of the day,
it is absolutely indispensable to comprehensively understand the
processes of auto- tive development - the core subject of this book.
Let's face it: More than a century after Carl Benz, Wilhelm Maybach and
Gottlieb Daimler developed and produced their first motor vehicles, the
overall concept of passenger cars has not changed much. Even though
components have been considerably optimized since then, motor cars in
the 21st century are still driven by combustion engines that transmit
their propulsive power to the road s- face via gearboxes, transmission
shafts and wheels, which together with spri- damper units allow driving
stability and ride comfort. Vehicles are still navigated by means of a
steering wheel that turns the front wheels, and the required control
elements are still located on a dashboard in front of the driver who
operates the car sitting in a seat.
