Car maker is a term we use a lot but the truth is that today’s car companies are more assemblers of bought-in parts than manufacturers.
That was highlighted in a recent comment by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who pointed out that the value of a car once it’s emerged from the factory is “85% bolt-on parts”.
These parts are sourced from thousands of often nameless suppliers, but as we shift out of internal combustion engines and into an era of electric cars powered by ever more sophisticated software, car makers are trying to recapture some of the value lost to suppliers.
