What do Automotive Engineers do?

Automotive engineers work on the development of ground-based vehicles including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and off-highway vehicles.

Their activities largely fall into either:

• design (new products or revising existing ones)
• research and development (finding solutions to engineering problems)
• production (planning and designing new production processes)

Their work demands a balance of engineering and commercial skills, as their technical solutions must be efficient, economical and contribute to the profitability of their employer. Tasks typically involve:

• developing new test procedures, using both conventional and innovative methods;
• devising and organising tests, which will answer questions from clients, consumers and other engineers involved in vehicle development;
• anticipating vehicle or component behaviour in different conditions with computer modelling software;
• analysing and interpreting technical data into reports or presentations and answering any queries about the results;
• building an individual specialism within a larger team and working independently;
• contributing to regular team meetings to update colleagues on progress, problems and new developments;
• managing all details of projects, including projected costs;
• recognising the benefits of engineering developments to related departments in order to market projects and secure internal funding;
• negotiating costs of development and engineering work with commercial departments;
• monitoring any related systems or engineering issues associated with the component and final product;
• ensuring any parts can be sourced when large-scale vehicle assembly commences;
• supervising technical staff, engineers or designers (dependent on specific role);
• operating in cross-functional or internationally based teams to design experiments in order to test the validity and competence of new technology.