Technical innovation determines value and appeal

It used to be that reliability, performance and fuelefficiency were the only real selling arguments for cars. Today’s car buyer, however, is much more demanding. The degree of comfort and interior equipment, even the engine performance, which not too long ago described a luxury sedan is now taken for granted in the mid-range car segment. Good looks and a “real car feel” increasingly rate higher than functionality. Or, put differently, the trend is toward “more appeal and more emotion.” Design is thus becoming the key differentiator and the defining element of a car brand – and of the manufacturer’s image. Yet the best designers can only be as good or creative as the available materials and tools allow them to be. The truth is, they are actually dependent on advanced manufacturing and engineering methods as well as innovative materials – and continuous innovation in these fields – to give their imagination free rein and come up with new and appealing designs.

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