Tesla Tops Rankings in Automotive “Future Readiness Indicator” Research Study

Which car company is best poised for the future? One of Europe’s top business schools, IMD, recently released their Future Readiness Indicator study and focused specifically on the automotive sector for its analysis. According to IMD, Tesla was the car company that dominated the rankings.

Tesla in Paris. Photo by Cynthia Shahan, CleanTechnica.

“Cars are already supercomputers on wheels,” IMD reports. “This brings us to Tesla. Contrary to how almost everyone else builds cars, Tesla splits the overall architecture differently. It optimizes always-on connectivity. There are four controlled domains: the autopilot; the central information displays; the instrument clusters; and the drivetrain and energy storage.”

In turn, “[Tesla’s cars] are prioritized for digital and electric technologies, allowing for over-the-air software updates, and enabling remote access and autonomous driving. This design is also optimized for data collection and algorithm testing, making software deployment easier.”

Howard Yu, IMD Business School LEGO Professor of Management and Innovation, discusses study results (YouTube: Yahoo Finance)

That said, “Tesla’s [have] the car features of the future; they will enable interaction with traffic infrastructure and make wireless communication with other vehicles possible. Still, this doesn’t mean traditional carmakers can’t win. They just need to learn a great deal, quickly.”

“What sets Tesla further apart is that Elon Musk is taking advantage of its current capabilities; the ones its competitors are still learning. Given all those pressures, it’s little wonder that the automotive industry is not optimistic: it faces too much disruption. All that electrification and connectivity are sending manufacturers scrambling,” reports IMD.

Above: When it comes to “Digital Savviness” in the automotive sector, Tesla continues to lead the pack (Source: IMD)

At the end of the day, when it comes to its analysis of the fast-changing automotive sector, IMD concludes, “Tesla is the ultimate outlier.”

Originally published on EVANNEX.