Industry background
Automobile engineers design, develop and produce vehicles and their constituent parts. Broadly speaking, there are three disciplines within automobile engineering – retail vehicles, motorsports and mass transportation.
Within these fields, an engineer will usually specialise in a particular working area, including bodywork, engine systems, fuel technology and emissions, electronics and control systems, fluid mechanics and aerodynamics.
What’s involved?
Automobile engineers producing retail vehicles work closely with process engineers to ensure production lines operate as efficiently as possible. They design and produce the parts that go into each vehicle, and ensure that they are fitted correctly.
The work is highly technical, and there are usually strict deadlines for when sections of the car must be completed, but there are few feelings more rewarding than watching a completed vehicle roll off the production line. Engineers involved in motorsports are usually given very specific tasks depending on their skills.
An aerodynamics specialist may design the bumper on a new rally car, whilst a fuel technology engineer may look into ways to increase the efficiency of F1 car engines.
Challenges of the future
Current economic pressures mean engineers are required to design and build vehicles more cost-effectively and with environmental concerns in mind, whilst the increasing presence of intelligent technology means automobile engineers will be pushed to innovate in new ways.
With manufacturers increasingly under pressure to drive their own research into fuel efficiency and safety, automobile engineers must also be able to adapt quickly to new technologies and changing conventions in the industry. Automobile engineers will need to learn the fundamental principles of design and processes of the past, whilst looking ahead to the future of transportation.
Career opportunities
Even with revenues falling across the automobile industry at this time, there is still strong demand for talented engineers, partly due to the need for fuel efficiency and innovative new transportation methods.
As a result, the industry is expected to grow over the next few years, driven by these new technologies. In order to keep up to speed with the latest industry developments, it is vital for engineers to constantly engage with training and development opportunities, many of which will be offered by their employers.
In addition to this, networking with other engineering professionals and more experienced engineers is a great way to pick up the skills needed for career progression, and is an integral part of the service IMechE offers its members.
The big players
Car Manufacturers including: Ford, Aston Martin, General Motors, Toyota, Honda
Mass transportation companies include: Wright Group and Alexander Dennis
Motorsport companies including: BMW, Brawn GP, Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi
Industry specific events
Click here to find out about IMechE events relating to Automobile.