Is Automobile Engineering a lucrative career

 Is Automobile Engineering a lucrative career?

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 This is a question haunting all the students pursuing some degree (ITI, Diploma, BE, Masters) in Automobile Engineering from various colleges all over the world. Is there a specific answer to this question?..Other questions connected to above query are :

• What are various options after completing graduation in automobile engineering?
• How automobile engineering is different from mechanical engineering?
• Is automobile engineer at par with other domains of engineering?
• What salaries to expect? 
• Which are the core companies that hire automobile engineers?

These are some common questions that create tension, pressure, anxiety among young automobile engineers.These questions also trouble many parents who see their young engineer child learning various aspects of automobile engineering or craving to take automobile engineering as a descent carrier.

We will try to give a concrete insight in  this article about automobile engineering and its various aspects to help answer questions of above sort..

  

Who is an automobile engineer ?

 An automobile engineer is the one who designs, fabricates, tests various automobile used on and off road such as cars,trucks, tractors etc.An automobile engineer  acquires skills to understand   all  aspects of automobile such as engine design & its working, chassis design, transmission, braking system etc.Automobile engineer  because of these skills is really valuable in the automotive sector.  

  

Skills of an automobile engineer (high level view)

1. Designer: Powertrain, transmission, braking system, chassis etc

2. Manufacturer: Assembly of  various systems used in a vehicle.

3. Tester: Performance, fuel efficiency, emissions,  etc

4. Innovator/Researcher: Innovating new technologies such as GDI, ABS,HCCI etc.

5. Consultant: Understanding the trends,gathering requirements, product development strategy etc.

 

Status of Automobile Sector: Optimistic

Automotive sector is really big  and widespread since human kind depend solely on cars, trucks , buses for transportation .  As per US  bureau of labor statistics, number of automobile engineers in USA were 258,000 employees in year 2012 and for the coming 10 years  the projected growth of mechanical engineers (that include automobile engineers also) is 5%.  In this 5%, automobile engineers will grow faster since the US  bureau of labor statistics envisages that more and more hybrid vehicles, high efficient vehicles (diesel engines) will be in demand in the market.Thus, in US future of automobile engineers looks more optimistic.The summary of the report is available on http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/mechanical-engineers.htm#tab-1.

Recent reports from SAE International indicate that automobile sector has come out of the recession in USA and people working in transport industries in USA have received increase of 10%  with the mean salary jumping from $107,000 in 2010 to $117,600 in 2012.

Ref: SAE International

Above data has been taken from survey published by SAE International, in the year 2012.It is quite clear that automotive sector is dominant in USA forming around 61% of the mobility sector.Most of the employees are fully employed.SAE international study indicates that as the economy is improving in Asian countries, the automotive sector  is also blooming . The pace of improvement of the automotive sector in developing countries is somewhat slower as compared to US automotive sectors.

We presented this data to understand the status of automotive sector in USA and other countries since these act as a major driver in the growth of automotive sector in India.So, what is the status of automotive sector in India? Let us check data from SIAM (Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturer) which is authorised agency to keep record of the automotive activities in India.

Automobile Production Trends (Ref: SIAM) Indian Scenario (Number of Vehicles) Category 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Passenger Vehicles 1,777,583 1,838,593 2,357,411 2,982,772 3,146,069 3,233,561 Commercial Vehicles 549,006 416,870 567,556 760,735 929,136 831,744 Three Wheelers 500,660 497,020 619,194 799,553 879,289 839,742 Two Wheelers 8,026,681 8,419,792 10,512,903 13,349,349 15,427,532 15,721,180 Grand Total 10,853,930 11,172,275 14,057,064  17,892,409  20,382,026  20,626,227

This table indicates a optimistic view since the production of automobile have doubled from year 2007-2008 to 2012-13. Increase in production ensures increased job opportunities in the automobile manufacturing sector, design sector and all related sectors. In the year 2011-12 and 2012-13, the production of the vehicles has neither increased nor decreased.Two wheelers seems to dominate the market implying that the demand of two wheelers is higher as compared to other category of vehicles.Therefore data of year 2012-13 indicate increase in vehicle production from year 2008-09 but is stagnant relative to year 2011-12.

 

 Ref: SIAM

Both  these figure indicate that the two wheeler dominate the auto sector in India and turnover of the India Auto industry in the year 2010-11 was higher than turnover in any other year.Since the production and sales has increased in year 2012, it is easy to anticipate that the turnover of autosector in year 2012 should be higher than 2011.

 

What does all this indicate?  

The international and national data & facts presented in this article hint that the auto sector is doing good and the engineers working in this domain are finding excellent jobs and salaries.Students who are in their final engineering programs should stop worrying and work hard to built skills suitable for different subsectors of automobile engineering based on their interests.

  

In general also, the automobile engineers make better life with good average salaries in India and abroad.This is true because of universal presence of vehicles all over the world.But it is true that automotive sector is never consistent but follow  a cyclic pattern of demand in 7-8 years.In this period, automotive sector sees growth, peak and fall to some extent since economy affects the performance of automotive sector a lot.Here fall does not mean high attrition but stagnant growth.

It would be worth sharing about the Indian companies that hire automobile engineers the most.

 

List of Indian  Companies that hire automobile engineers:

• Maruti Suzuki,Gurgaon & Maneser
• Tata Motors,Pune
• Hyundai, Delhi
• Ashok Leyland,Chennai 
• Volkswagon, Pune
• Hero Honda, Maneser
• Bajaj, Pune
• Kirloskar, Pune
• Toyota, Delhi 
• Skoda, Aurangabad
• Cummins,Pune
• John deere, Pune
• Ford,Bangalore    
• General Motor,Bangalore
• Chrysler,Chennai
• ARAI, Pune

These are some major recruiters in automotive sector in India.There are many more and we can come up with exhaustive list of recruiters based on the demand of the readers.But point here is fresh and experienced resources are hired by many big companies and are paid handsome salaries.The recruitment scenario changes with demand and sales figures of the companies therefore the most important strategy that will give an automobile engineer a niche is his or her skills.

 

What makes Automobile Engineering so special?

Opportunities to perform innovation. Automobile engineering covers all the aspects of an automobile such as design, manufacturing, reducing emissions, increasing fuel efficiency, designing vehicle for high power or high torque conditions etc.Thus development in all these frontiers  offers plenty of opportunities to innovate and develop a sustainable solution. Recent innovations in auto sector are Variable valve timings, use of low temperature combustion concepts such as RCCI, hybrid vehicles, gasoline direct injection,downsized engines, radar sensing system to prevent collision etc.Innovation is continuously required in automobile engineering to meet the requirements of the customers, emission reduction, increase efficiency etc.Therefore , it is innovation and plethora of opportunities to innovate that makes this branch of engineering so special.

 

Verdict

Automobile engineering is not a new branch but is tried and tested . It has many aspects and covers whole lot of things. From the international and national perspective, the data imply that presently the automotive sector is growing and  people who are working in this are enjoying handsome salaries.In the future, the sector focus on innovative technologies for ensuring high efficiency, low emissions and high reliability, the sector demands skill of all levels.USA is optimistic and so India about the growth of automobile sector in the coming decade.Further, the economies of many developing countries are growing fast increasing the purchasing power of the people thereby increasing the demand of cars.In addition, automobile engineering offers many innovative opportunities to increase the efficiency and emission performance of the vehicle thereby making it more creative and interesting.Hence, automobile engineering is lucrative but one should choose this branch based on his/her interest.

Note: Based on the demand, we could post more information about various aspects of automobile engineering such as projects, internship opportunities, research opportunities, skills required for a ideal automobile job etc..Readers need to post us and we would be happy to post and share .