Who Is Shaping the future of Autos - Tech Firms or Automakers?
Many of you had the opportunity to participate in John Paul MacDuffie's presentation during our joint Mack Institute event with the club and the Ross School of Business Alumni. And even our breakout groups provided feedback to him on this topic. For those of you who did not participate, this gives you an overview of some of what we discussed.
Technology firms are the drivers of disruption across industries, but things will play out differently for automobiles, according to John Paul MacDuffie, Wharton management professor and director of the School’s Program on Vehicle and Mobility Innovation. Tomorrow’s vehicles will be built with electric, autonomous and mobility/connected features, and one would expect tech companies to dominate the automotive industry of the future, he noted. However, technology companies are not equipped to dislodge traditional automakers from the driver’s seat and have to learn to share the controls, he added.