Automotive industries today face numerous new challenges. Consumers increasingly expect cars to be smarter and more environmentally-friendly while at the same time more dynamic and sporty than before.

Behind-the-scenes refers to theatre activities taking place away from public view; or secret activities.

Concept sketches

Concept sketches can serve as an essential first step to any design project, providing designers with a swift way to explore ideas quickly and give external form to them. Conceptual sketches also help designers focus on core principles and aesthetic concepts of their design projects.

Once initial sketches are completed, more comprehensive specifications will be drawn up by the manufacturer to address what their new car should provide for customers and will often include specific requirements that must be fulfilled as well as limitations to be adhered to during design.

The design team will then explore various ideas, with each designer creating 10 sketches of developments on existing concepts within 30 minutes. After which, these concepts are presented to the full team for voting; those designs that meet most of the required criteria will move forward into further consideration.

Clay models

Every automobile on the road started as a carefully sculpted clay model, costing automakers hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct. Yet this crucial step in their design process cannot be bypassed.

Designers utilize both hand sculpting and armatures/modelling stands when working with modeling clay, providing support structures typically composed of aluminum that allow the artist to shape it to achieve the desired effects. Chisels and knives may also be employed.

Clay models provide researchers with an excellent way to address multiple questions. One application of clay models is testing predator avoidance learning. This can be accomplished using prey animals that leave tooth marks in the clay as they leave tooth and jaw marks behind; however, such experiments can be susceptible to bias; researchers must ensure that predators can distinguish modeled prey from controls during experiments.

3D printing

An important tool for automotive designers, 3D printers allow rapid prototyping and open up new design possibilities not possible with conventional methods. Furthermore, they help optimize materials used in cars while cutting costs for manufacturers.

Though these benefits exist, 3D printing technology isn’t yet widely utilized in production environments. Due to stringent standards required for producing safety-critical car parts, replacing established machining techniques with novel ones may prove challenging.

However, 3D printing can be used to produce replacement parts quickly and affordably – an especially useful capability for classic cars that often need difficult-to-find or cost prohibitive parts. Printing parts on demand reduces material, transportation and storage costs significantly and allows buyers to tailor components specifically to their own requirements. It is also environmentally friendly – using recycled plastic waste in creating fuel lines and other components which are then installed directly into the body of the car.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality allows designers to test ideas without creating physical models, saving both time and money while helping them make more informed decisions. VR also speeds up the design process; for instance, BUGATTI used VR to complete design of its Divo in half the usual time it would typically require; interior designs as well as suspension engineering can all benefit greatly from using this technology; GMC uses similar tech for visualizations related to engine placement, aerodynamics, and suspension engineering using VR as well.

Hyundai has taken steps to use virtual reality in their car design process in order to reduce environmental impacts. They use VR for virtual sign-off sessions and to avoid costly physical prototypes – saving both time, money, energy consumption, shipping/travel costs as well as waste.

Virtual reality technology is helping automakers streamline and enhance their product development processes, streamlining and expediting crucial milestones and saving money in the process. Furthermore, prospective car buyers can experience them like driving them.