Latest Trends in the Automotive Industry

P. Santhosh Saravanan

It’s been roughly 3 years since the last issue of our department’s newsletter and almost every
sector has been disrupted in one way or the other since then. The automotive sector has been
no exception to this change and in this piece, we’ll be looking at a few interesting innovations
and trends.
Hyundai has developed a foldable steering system that as the name suggests, enables
folding and unfolding of the traditional static steering wheel. This innovative technology is
optimised for future mobility vehicles as it can allow for more space in the driver’s seat and
also thereby enable design innovation. The new foldable steering system is also perfectly
compatible with the Steer by Wire (SBW) steering system. The SBW system controls
steering with electrical signals by connecting the steering wheel with a device designed to
deliver the steering force generated from the steering wheel to the wheels.

Continuing on innovations in auto components, the magnetic damper has come back to
popularity. Dampers are absolutely crucial to three things: roadholding, handling and
comfort. Without them, a car would be undrivable. A new fourth generation damper built by
Magneride measures inertia directly, the motion control has been enhanced and wheel-hub-
mounted accelerometers improve precision. The controller is smaller, thereby taking up less
space and weighing 20% less, software is further refined and internal friction of the damper
units has been reduced a tad more. Two decades down the line, it’s still arguably one of the
coolest suspension technologies of the 21st century.

CES, one of the world’s biggest tech events happening once per year is also a stage for
automakers to showcase their new offerings. The main theme observed here was the
influence of software on mobility. Automakers see software integration as a strong value
driver through the entire lifecycle of the product; from the purchase level, through immersive
virtual reality experiences to various vehicle functions like the advanced driver assistance
systems, cloud integration of vehicle parameters and many more.

The sector has also seen its horizon expanded through new vehicles in electric and fuel cell
technologies. For almost a century, the design of the car relied on the engine power,
transmission, cooling etc. Shifting slightly from this has given companies major freedom to
redesign the space compared to how we see our vehicles today. Though these are currently
lagging behind the IC engine vehicles in many aspects, breakthrough findings are being seen
at a regular scale and automakers are willing to invest in this space, which may accelerate a
product which can satisfy the customer at the end.
Changes are taking place a rapid scale and the concept of mobility is reimagined to new
levels. To be in the midst of such a transition where competitors and innovators wait for none
is the dawn of a new era in the automotive industry.