麦肯锡-汽车产品开发速度达到新境界传统车企需跟上-2025-08-市场解读

Mcsey

&company

OperationsPractice

Automotiveproduct

development:Acceleratingtonewhorizons

Newmarketentrantshavecutautomotivetimetomarketinhalf.

Establishedplayersneedtospeedup,ortheyriskbeingleftbehind.

byKimberlyBordenandSebastianKüchler

withArturoSantosandCarolinDost

©GettyImages

August2025

Chinahastheworld’slargest,fastest-growing,andmostcompetitiveautomotivemarket.Thenumber

ofvehiclesonthecountry’sroadshasmorethan

doubledoverthepastdecade,reachingmorethan350millionin2024.Electricvehicle(EV)adoptioninChinahasskyrocketed,too,risingfroma1percentmarketsharein2015to46percentin2024.The

10percentannualgrowthofthemarketisledbydomesticbrands,whichnowoutnumber—bya2:1ratio—jointventureswithoverseascompanies.

TheselocalEVmakersarelockedinafierce

competitionformarketshare,inwhichspeedhasbecomeakeysourceofadvantage.

China’snewEV-focusedautomakershaveslashed

thetimerequiredtodevelopanewvehicle,taking

newelectricmodelsfromconcepttolaunchin

roughly24months1—twicethespeedofother

automotivecompanies,whereleadtimesreach40

to50monthsorevenlonger(Exhibit1).Movingat

speedallowsthesecompaniestodifferentiatetheir

productswithnoveltechnologiesandfirst-to-marketfeatures,andtheirapproachofferslessonsforlegacyautomakersaroundtheworld.

Deployingdevelopmentresourceswithmaximumefficiencyalsohelpscompanieskeepproduct

developmentcostsdown.Thatmatters,becauseintensecompetitioninthemarketissqueezingthemarginsofallplayers,evenasconsumersdemandmorevehiclefeaturesandlowerpriceswitheachmodelcycle.

Theindustryhastogetready

China’sautomakersarenowlookingtoenternew

marketsalongsideestablishedplayers.BYD,for

example,isconstructingvehicleassemblyplants

inHungary,Indonesia,andTürkiye.AndChina’s

newautomotiveOEMSarealsoprovingattractive

toinvestors.FourChinesecompanies—BYD,

Leap,LiAuto,andSeres—havemadetheirEV

portfoliosprofitable,somethingthatmanynon-

ChinaEVautomakersarestillstrugglingtodo.As

investorshaverecognizedanopportunity,the

marketcapitalizationsofChina’sBYDandGeely

andWesterndisruptorssuchasTeslahavegrown

morethanfourfoldoverthepastdecade,whilethe10largestOEMsbymarketcapitalization,excluding

1

Includingplatformdevelopment.

Exhibit1

NewEVOEMsdevelopproductsinjust24months—uptotwiceasfastasChina’sotherautomakers.

Directionalproductdevelopmenttimeline,monthstostartofproduction(SOP)

Styling/designvalidationEngineering,tooling,andtestingIndustrialization

Ongoingsoftware/hardwarereleases

6048362412SOP

NewelectricvehicleOEM

24

10

5

9

MassmarketOEM

45

28

7

10

Sportscarmanufacturer

48

25

12

11

PremiumOEM

53

23

21

9

Source:Expertinterviews;McKinseyanalysis

McKinsey&Company

2Automotiveproductdevelopment:Acceleratingtonewhorizons

BYDandTesla,haveseenminimalincreaseson

average(Exhibit2).Overthesameperiod,BYD’s

totalshareholderreturn(TSR)grewbymorethan

550percentagepoints,whileotherlargeOEMs

achievedanaverageincreaseoflessthanone-thirdofthat,or153percentagepoints.

Howtheydoit

Developingnewvehiclesfasterandatlowercostrequiresafocusonefficiencyateverystageintheproductlifecycle.China’snewOEMsandWesterndisruptorsareshowingtheyarebeingstrategic

aboutwhattheyproduce,howtheydevelopand

test,andhowtheycollaborateacrossthesupplychain.2Thosedecisionstranslateintosignificantreductionsintimetomarket.Inthefollowing

descriptions,wehaveanalyzedthetime-savingpotentialofeachleverbasedoncompanies’

ownannouncements,externaldatapoints,andinterviewswithautomotiveindustryexperts.

Productandcomponentportfoliooptimization

Estimatedreductionintimetomarket:1−3months

Complexitykillsspeedinproductdevelopment.Chineseautomakersweanalyzedhavesmaller,

2Interviewswithindustryexpertsandpractitioners.

Exhibit2

InnovativeelectricvehicleOEMsareincreasingvalueandshareholderreturnsmuchfasterthanlegacyautomakers.

Marketcapitalizationgrowth,2015–24,%

4,025

425

310

12

Top10largestOEMs¹

GeelyBYDTesla

TSRgrowth,2015–24,indexedto2015,%

2,424

551

315

153

Top10largestOEMs¹

GeelyBYDTesla

1Basedon2025marketcapitalization,excludingBYDandTesla.

Source:S&PGlobalMarketingIntelligence;McKinseyValueIntelligencePlatform

McKinsey&Company

Automotiveproductdevelopment:Acceleratingtonewhorizons

3

morefocusedproductportfoliosthantheirlegacyOEMrivals.Thefastestamongthemspecializein

batteryelectricvehicles(BEVs),whichhavefewer

componentsthanvehicleswithinternalcombustion(IC)powertrains.

Thefocusonradicalsimplificationgoesrightdown

tothecomponentlevel,withanemphasisonthe

useofstandardcomponentswhereverpossibleandmodulardesignsthatenablemodificationswithout

majorredesign,qualification,andtesting.NewOEMsattempttomaximizethenumberofpartscarriedoverfromoneproducttothenext,anapproachthatis

especiallycommonfordigitalcomponentsandpartsthatarenotvisibletotheconsumer.

Smartandefficienttestinganddevelopment

Estimatedreductionintimetomarket:9−11months

Testingphysicalprototypesistime-consuming

andexpensive,andautomakerswillstreamlineit

wherevertheycan.China’sautomotiveOEMsuse

softwaresimulationandvirtualprototypesfor65

percentoftheirtesting,comparedwith40to50

percentinotherregions.Andthree-quartersof

thosetestsarehighlyautomated,comparedwith

aroundtwo-thirdsinotherregions.Weestimatethatmaximizingthisuseofvirtualtestingcancutinhalfthenumberofphysicalprototypesrequired.

Decouplingsoftwareandhardware

Estimatedreductionintimetomarket:3−10months

Managingthecomplexsoftwareusedinmodern

vehicleshasbeenasignificantchallengefor

automakers.ChineseplayersanddisruptorWesternOEMs,suchasTesla,haveturnedthisintoasourceofcompetitiveadvantage.Thesecompanieshave

developedcentralizedelectronicarchitectures,withsoftwaredevelopmentrunin-houseanddecoupledfromhardwaredevelopment.Fullover-the-air(OTA)softwareupdatecapabilitiesallowcompanies

tofixproblemsrapidlyandreleasenewfeaturesandimprovementsafterproductsarealreadyin

themarket.This,inturn,shortenspre-start-of-

production(pre-SOP)developmenttimeandletsautomakersfocusresourcesoncertification-andhomologation-relevantsoftware.

Optimizedtooling

Estimatedreductionintimetomarket:1−4months

Theproductionoftooling,suchasmoldsforplasticandcastcomponentsordiesforsheetmetal

pressing,isatime-consumingandexpensivepart

ofanynew-vehicledevelopmentprocess.China’s

automakershavemadetoolinganareaofparticularfocusintheireffortsattimeandcostreduction.

Commonstrategiesincludetheuseofefficient

modeling,virtualtesting,andreviewprocesses

toallowtheproductionoftoolingtobeginearlier

inthedesigncycle,togetherwiththeuseofsoft

tooling,suchaspolymerratherthanmetalmoldsforproducinglowvolumesofpartsfortesting.

Robustverticalintegrationandsupplystrategy

Estimatedreductionintimetomarket:3−4months

Comparedwithlegacyplayers,manyChinese

automakersretainin-housecontroloverthe

developmentofalargershareofvehiclecomponentsandsystems(forexample,batterypackaging

assembly,electricmotors,ande-axles).Theyhave

pursuedaccesstotechnologies,capabilities,and

resourcesthroughstrategicjointventuresand

acquisitions.In-housedevelopmentoftheseparts

givescompaniesgreatercontroloverconcept

development,detaileddesign,andintegration;savestimethatwouldotherwiseberequiredtoselect,

negotiate,andcoordinatewithexternalsuppliers;andenablesgreaterreuseofcomponentsand

systemsbetweenmodels.

Thesecompaniesareequallyrigorousinensuring

controlofpartstheydoprocurefromsuppliers.

Externalsourcingisbaseduponafoundationof

strong,collaborativerelationshipswithsuppliers.

OEMsinitiatejointdevelopmentworkearlyand

workcloselyandcross-functionallytomanage

procurementandsuppliermanagementduring

projectexecution.Thatmightinvolveprocurement

teamsreviewingearly-stagedesignstolet

engineeringknowifanyrequirementswillbedifficulttosource,forexample.Robustqualitymanagementprocesseshelppreventproblemswithexternally

sourcedcomponentsbeforetheycanhaveanimpactonprojecttimelines.

4

Automotiveproductdevelopment:Acceleratingtonewhorizons

Executionrigor

Estimatedreductionintimetomarket:1−3months

Effectivemanagementofproductdevelopment

processesattopcompaniesbeginswithaclear

andleangovernancestructure.Projectsare

steeredbyasmallgroupoffourtofiveexecutives,whogatherseveraltimeseachweekforbrief

stand-upmeetingstodiscussproduct-related

topicsandmakedecisionsonthespot.This

Findmorecontentlikethisonthe

McKinseyInsightsApp

quickdecisionmakingcharacterizesnew-vehicleprojectsfromconcepttodesignfreeze,includingchoicesaboutvehiclepositioning,thedefinition

Mckunsey

ofdesignrequirements,anddiscussionofchangerequests.

&company

AnotherareawhereChina’sleadingautomotive

OEMshaveexcelledisintheuseofadvancedtech-enabledtoolsacrosstheproductdevelopment

organization.Thesecompanieshavebeenquick

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toadoptanewgenerationofprojectmanagementsystemsthatuseadvancedanalyticsandgenAItocreateaclear,actionable,near-real-timepicture

ofprojectstatus.Thesesystemsdon’tjustprovidereal-timeremindersofupcomingdeadlinesfor

thewholeprojectteam;theyalsocanflagrisks

andpotentialdelays,aswellasmonitorthedaily

progressofprojectsagainsttimeandcosttargets.

Speedbringslifecyclerisks

China’saccelerationofautomotiveproduct

developmentcomeswithrisksaswellasbenefits.Onekeyconcernfortheindustryistheimpactofshortvehiclelifecycles.Legacymanufacturers

typicallyproducevariantsofasinglemodelforseventotenyears.Thatgivesthemplentyof

timetostabilizemanufacturing,refinesupply

chains,andamortizetoolingandsetupcosts.Anautomotivemarketinwhichcustomersexpect

brand-newmodelseverytwotofiveyearswillputadditionalpressureonOEMsandsupplierstostreamlinetheirproductionoperationsandmaximizecomponentreusebetweenproductiterations.

Keylessons

Thenewwaveofautomotivemanufacturingoffersfreshinsightforlegacycompaniesseekingtolearnhowtodeveloptheirproductsfasteran