9. The Role of Projects in the Process of Transforming Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is one of the most important industries worldwide. Since its beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century, it has been undergoing a transformation that essentially goes through four phases. Projects play a specific role for the process of transformation. The chapter explains the role of projects in each of these four phases and also looks at future developments. Projects are increasingly at the core of organizing innovation, product development, manufacturing and service delivery. This development, also known as “projectification“, has strong repercussions on the organization itself. Organizational structures, processes and above all mindset and culture adapt to the requirements of project work. People are more clearly in the focus than before. Because companies can only be successful if they can respond flexibly to the new challenges coming from outside, i.e. from the market, competition and society. But that is precisely what distinguishes the automotive industry, after all, that it has been very adaptable and thus sustainably successful up to now.