Top 10 Automotive Consulting Firms

Have you always been a car person? Do you want to help traditional automobile manufacturers tackle some of their biggest issues like how should we set our electric vehicle strategy? Well, if so, working as an automotive consultant may be a good fit for you. As an automotive consultant, you will be able to work across some of the largest automotive manufacturers and help them work through both strategic and operational issues, including how to address climate change impact, how to make factories more effective, and how to move to a digital business model.

This article will share more on the top 10 automotive consulting firms and what makes each firm unique.

Top Automotive Consulting Firms List

BCG

Website: www.bcg.com
Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
Executive Team: Christoph Schweizer (CEO)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For automotive companies: assessed consumers’ preferences and purchasing behavior to inform vehicle fleet strategy; these projects are designed to maximize the consumer experience and the automotive company’s ROI

Awards: Best Company for Women, Best Company Culture

McKinsey & Company

Website: www.mckinsey.com
Headquarters: New York, New York
Executive Team: Bob Sternfels (Global Managing Partner)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For a heavy-truck company: Transformed cost basis of company and identified $130M in cost-reduction opportunities

Awards: Most Prestigious Consulting Firms

Bain

Website: www.bain.com
Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
Executive Team: Manny Maceda (Worldwide Managing Partner), Orit Gadiesh (Chairman)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For a global automaker: developed company’s digital journey by creating the automakers’ capabilities

Awards: Glassdoor’s Best Place to Work

Deloitte Consulting

Website: www2.deloitte.com/
Headquarters: New York, New York
Executive Team: Dan Helfrich (Chair & CEO, Deloitte Consulting), Ambar Chowdhury, (Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Deloitte Consulting)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For an automotive supplier: Evaluated ways for automotive suppliers to transform their business models to be more resilient to operational disruptions

Awards: Forbes one of America’s best management consulting firms

KPMG

Website: kpmg.com
Headquarters: Amstelveen, Netherlands
Executive Team: Bill Thomas (Global Chairman and CEO)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For automotive executives: Evaluated root causes of players’ main challenges and presented ways for automotive players to grow and improve profitability

Awards: M&A innovator by ALM Intelligence Pacesetter Research

Roland Berger

Website: www.rolandberger.com
Headquarters: Munich, Germany
Executive Team: Stefan Schaible (Senior Partner, Global Managing Partner), Marcus Berret (Senior Partner, Global Managing Director)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For OEMs: Develop brand and product strategies; these strategies underpinned the OEMs competitive differentiation

Awards: Received the Best in Corporate Publishing Award for its published magazine, Think:Act

EY

Website: www.ey.com
Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
Executive Team: Julie Boland (EY Americas Area Managing Partner and EY US Chair and Managing Partner)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For automobile players: Evaluated drivers of automobile demand and outlined consumer preferences (e.g., the need for a digital first experience)

Awards: Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For

Bearing Point

Website: www.bearingpoint.com
Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Executive Team: Kiumars Hamidian (Managing Partner)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For automotive players: Optimize their supply chain, leveraging their Global Business Transformation Toolkit (e.g., first develop a digital architecture framework for clients)

Awards: Listed as one of Forbes’ best management consulting firms globally

Accenture

Website: www.accenture.com
Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland
Executive Team: Julie Sweet (Chair and CEO)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

For Volkswagen: Supported ESG strategy and execution (e.g., by developing KPIs for the main topic areas)

Awards: Listed as one of Fortune’s world’s most admired companies

Kearney

Website: www.kearney.com
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
Executive Team: Alex Liu (Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney)
Specialty: Works across the automotive industry, spanning strategy (e.g., autonomous and electric vehicle strategy) and operations (e.g., manufacturing efficiency, supplier strategy)
Notable Projects:

Across automotive players: Optimize their supply chains through digital transformations

Awards: America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity 2023

Conclusion

Therefore, if you have a passion for the automotive industry, you may want to be an automotive consultant. The top firms for automotive consulting generally have robust case work in the sector and work across a variety of coverage topics. As such, you will be able to get a well-rounded view of the challenges facing automotive companies and make a broad impact. If you want to ace your automotive consulting interview, it is essential to have a strong story re. why you want to work in the sector. To interview prep with an ex-MBB consultant, please click here.