The automotive industry has changed significantly over the years, and is still facing major
transition, due to the various driving forces associated with it. The biggest factors affecting the vehicle sector are the new, more environmentally friendly powertrain systems and intelligent technology. Vehicle companies are aware that concerning these changes, they need to bring ever better innovations to the market. As a result, they have begun to develop innovations, such as electric cars, and at the same time increasing the number of them in their production, to meet the regulations brought by climate change, and especially to create an unpolluted future mobility.
The aim of this research is to find out what different innovations vehicle companies are developing as well as have already brought to the market. In this context, the research examines how these emerging innovations have diffused in the automotive industry over the last 10 years. Two well-known vehicle companies, Toyota and BMW, have been selected as the case companies of this thesis, and the research has been carried out utilizing the annual reports of these two companies since 2009.
The theoretical framework of the research is based on the diffusion of innovations, and how innovations are adopted. An important feature of innovation is that its diffusion usually takes place gradually among different adopters. This supports the aim of the research and at the same time it highlights the significance of time in the diffusion of innovations, which is well reflected in the comparison of the annual reports for the 10-year period.
A considerable part of the data in the annual reports is in text form, so the main research method of this thesis is qualitative. However, to support qualitative research, the thesis will also use a slight amount quantitative research method, when comparing company figures with each other.
The research shows that vehicle manufacturers have developed innovations such as electric cars, and in particular different variations of them, connectivity, autonomous driving, and mobility services. Some of these innovations have been seen in a few cars in the past, but in recent years their importance in the automotive industry has grown remarkably. Case companies have taken these innovations pretty much in the same way into account in their development and operations, but few differences can be also found, such as the approach of electric car variations and how they see the future in that sector
