Introduction:

The Australian Government’s New Car Plan for a Greener Future provides a $6.2 billion investment to reshape Australia’s automotive industry and improve its competitiveness.

As part of the New Car Plan, the Automotive Industry Innovation Council (AIIC), representing key automotive industry stakeholders, was formed in December 2008 to drive continuous innovation and renewal. The AIIC endorses the development of a strategic, long-term industry vision and roadmap.

Automotive Australia 2020 Project:

Investment must be targeted strategically to develop the capabilities which underpin these opportunities. Further, these opportunities must be ones where the industry can develop a truly competitive edge at a global level. Thus investments in capability must address significant global market opportunities and build on areas where Australia has real capability for development and exploitation.

In late 2008 the Victorian Government released its Victorian Automotive Manufacturing Action Plan (VAMAP), designed to assist local automotive manufacturers embrace change within the industry. A key part of the VAMAP is the development of an industry capability map and a technology roadmap. The capability map will focus on mapping the industry’s needs to capabilities over the short-term (next vehicle model 2012-2014), while the technology roadmap takes a longer term and much broader view.

The AutoCRC supported by the Australian and Victorian Governments is working with the Australian automotive industry to develop a technology roadmap to 2020 and beyond.

This will involve a 6 phase program which includes:

Strawman:

Figure 1: A “strawman” illustrating a typical roadmap format that may be tailored to the context of the Australian automotive industry. The roadmap comprises a timebased, multi-layered chart, linking external factors and market need to capabilities and enabling resources. Capturing this complexity “on a page” enables the various stakeholders in the sector to be aligned, and provides a structured framework to address three key questions: Where do we want to go? Where are we now? How can we get there?