The automotive sector in 2026 balances slower, uneven traditional demand with rapid EV powertrain growth, intense cost pressure, and material-security risk around rare earths and battery-grade minerals. This deck explains how those forces raise forecast error and stress supplier tiers, and how SAP's cloud portfolio addresses visibility, planning velocity, JIT/JIS execution, supplier collaboration, and sustainability reporting.
It details the multi-tier visibility crisis — OEMs that can't see beyond Tier-1 suppliers and 20,000–30,000 parts per vehicle — and the six top challenges, then walks through the SAP answer: Ariba and Business Network for multi-tier collaboration; IBP for demand sensing, inventory optimization, and scenario simulation; SAP ERP Cloud with EWM and TM for JIT/JIS sequencing; and Product Footprint Management, commodity intelligence, and BTP extensions for sustainability and risk.
The deck compares Tier-1 and Tier-2 supplier needs and closes with a 90-day pilot for one assembly line — foundation, supplier onboarding, integration, and results — with a conservative target of 10% safety-stock reduction, a 3–5 point OTIF improvement, and 20–40% fewer manual order exceptions.
The full deck is available above as a PDF. For shorter editions see the "Automotive Industry Fact Sheet 2026: SAP Cloud Solutions for Automotive Supply Chains" and the "Automotive Industry Overview 2026: Executive Brief" in the Resource Library.