Future mobility places new pressure on Tier 1 suppliers

Figures vary, but the common understanding is that around 70% of a new vehicle consists of parts provided by external suppliers. The industry’s largest Tier 1 suppliers play a vital role and work as close development partners with their automaker customers. In times gone by, these suppliers would have acted as discrete component providers, but have increasingly become complete systems integrators.

Harald Naunheimer is Vice President of Future Products at Magna Powertrain. The division—which produces all manner of products for conventional, electrified and fully electric powertrains—sits within the wider Magna International group that develops products for areas such as autonomous driving and cyber security.

The challenge is to understand how the connected, autonomous, shared and electric (CASE) trends will shape the business moving forward, and in his role at Magna Powertrain, Naunheimer works across all these divisions to ensure that the relevant teams interlink. As he explained to Automotive World, the role of the supplier is evolving as new software-based technologies are developed alongside more conventional mechanical systems.