The automotive industry is undergoing its most significant transformation in over a century. The shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating under the weight of regulatory targets, consumer demand, and competitive innovation. Global EV sales are forecasted to climb from USD 671 billion in 2024 to nearly USD 1.9 trillion by 2032 — a CAGR of 13.8%. But as OEMs ramp up EV production, they’re also navigating a far more volatile landscape. From raw material price swings, geopolitical uncertainty, shifting tariffs, and supply chain shocks, disruption is the new normal.
In the U.S. alone, the EV market is projected to grow more than fivefold by 2028, but adoption patterns vary sharply by region. A recent Deloitte study found fewer than 10% of U.S. consumers intend to buy a battery-electric vehicle next, compared with around one-third in China. This regional disparity makes flexible, market-specific planning essential.
In this complex environment, integrated business planning (IBP) is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s the central nervous system that keeps strategy, operations, and finance aligned while enabling rapid, informed decision-making.
The EV growth challenge — and geopolitical hurdles
Automakers are already navigating the sharp edge of disruption. From shifting consumer demand to escalating trade tensions, the transition to electrification is no longer a distant future. Without proactive, connected planning across the business, these forces can quickly turn into missed revenue, stranded inventory, or competitive losses.
Electrification introduces new opportunities — but also new risks — OEMs must plan for.
Supply constraints:
Battery cells, semiconductors, and rare-earth metals remain vulnerable to shortages, with long lead times and concentrated supplier bases.
Uneven demand signals:
EV adoption varies by region, shaped by incentives, infrastructure availability, and changing consumer preferences.
Product complexity:
Managing ICE, hybrid, and BEV portfolios in parallel requires careful orchestration of investments, tooling, and phased production shifts.
Trade policy volatility:
Cross-border supply chains expose OEMs to shifting tariffs and regulations. EU carbon border adjustments could raise non-EU component costs by 15% or more. Chinese manufacturers are expanding abroad — sometimes bypassing tariffs by building locally.
The EV growth challenge and geopolitical volatility are no longer distant threats — they’re already impacting operations. To stay ahead, OEMs need planning systems that can sense change early and empower teams to respond in real time, before disruption turns into a setback.
Why traditional planning falls short
Many automotive OEMs still rely on spreadsheets, ERP modules, or legacy tools to manage demand, supply, and production. While these systems once supported stable, linear planning cycles, they struggle to keep pace with today’s dynamic environment. Disconnected data, slow update cycles, and limited visibility across functions make it difficult to respond quickly to shifting demand, supply constraints, or regulatory changes. When disruption hits, teams spend more time reconciling numbers than making decisions.
These outdated tools also limit the ability to run meaningful what-if scenarios or simulate trade-offs across product lines, regions, and market conditions. Without an integrated view, planning becomes reactive, siloed, and misaligned — often leading to missed revenue, excess inventory, or delayed responses to risk. In contrast, IBP connects people, plans, and data across the enterprise — enabling faster, smarter decisions that support both resilience and growth.
Where IBP changes the game
IBP empowers OEMs to plan across the entire enterprise, fostering real-time collaboration across sales, supply chain, engineering, and finance. Here’s how it helps address EV growth, tariff uncertainty, and operational resilience in a single framework:
1. End-to-end scenario planning
- Model multiple EV launch profiles, considering different ramp-up speeds and regional allocations.
- Evaluate how raw material shortages or tariff changes would impact profitability, production schedules, and market share.
2. Synchronized decision-making
- Link long-term product strategy with operational and financial plans so capacity investments align with demand and margin targets.
- Ensure tariff-driven sourcing shifts are instantly reflected in cost forecasts and build plans.
3. Supply chain resilience
- Incorporate supplier risk scoring into planning to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before they become production stoppages.
- Build “plan B” sourcing and logistics routes directly into the planning process, so teams can pivot in weeks, not months.
4. Profit-optimized allocation
- When battery supply is constrained, prioritize high-margin or strategic vehicle configurations for available capacity.
- Simulate the trade-offs between fulfilling domestic demand versus higher-margin export markets under different tariff scenarios.
Together, these capabilities help OEMs not just adapt, but thrive in a volatile environment.
A real-world example
Imagine your AI-driven risk detection system flags a likely lithium carbonate shortage in 15 months, driven by upstream mining delays. At the same time, the EU finalizes a tariff on imported battery modules.
With IBP, your teams can:
- Model multiple responses: accelerate domestic battery module production, adjust EV launch sequencing, or rebalance trim mix towards lower cell-intensity models.
- See the impact of each decision on the P&L, production capacity, and regional market share — side by side.
- Act immediately with a cross-functional plan approved by leadership, not weeks later after siloed teams run their own numbers.
The payoff
Automotive OEMs using IBP effectively report:
- Shorter decision cycles – Days instead of weeks to respond to shocks.
- Higher forecast accuracy – Better synchronization between demand, supply, and finance.
- Improved margins – Optimizing allocation and sourcing in line with market conditions.
Yet many OEMs and dealers are still trying to plan with disconnected spreadsheets, limiting their agility and resilience. In a world where EV adoption curves, trade policies, and supply chain risks are constantly shifting, IBP turns uncertainty into a competitive advantage.
It doesn’t just help OEMs survive disruption — it enables them to capture value in the moments when agility matters most.
