Master’s Thesis Cars The future is flexible Author: Lennart Schmitz Supervisor: Zeenath Hasan, Mikael Blomqvist Examiner: Mathilda Tham Term: VT18 Subject: Design Level: Second Level Course code:5DI34E Abstract Cars have been around for over a century and have grown to become an essential part of society with an increasing number of different models being sold and developed each year. Car manufacturers steadily expand the offered product portfolio and invent new market niches constantly. Often, this is not done to meet the customers’ expectations but rather to match and rival a competitor’s model lineup. The increase in model variety results in a significant increase in the complexity of production and manufacturing, more difficult and demanding work surrounding employees, and massive negative impacts on the environment. Not only are cars unsustainable in the way they are used, but also in the way they are produced. For a more sustainable future of and with cars to be possible, this practice of product portfolio expansion needs to be critically analyzed. It is, in my eyes, additionally necessary to evaluate the essence of the car industry, the car itself, and to re-think what defines a car. This paper critically analyzes the car industry and the production and development of cars, and it proposes an alternative to standard car design based on the idea and ability of speculative and critical design to highlight issues of today. The proposed concept is a speculative design alternative to car design, aiming to put sustainability and the customers back into the focus of car development, and discover what is possible, rather than probable, in the future of cars. The proposed concept aims at changing the understanding of cars and turns the car from being fixed and immutable into alterable and changeable objects, depending on the use-case and user. By analyzing manufacturing procedures and future trends, and interviewing experts from various disciplines, insights are used to evaluate the proposed alternative. Key words car design, car development, sustainability, future, speculative design, innovation Acknowledgments These past weeks and months have been exhausting, stressful and often frustrating. Yet here I am, with a finished thesis at hand. And while the thesis was written by me, it would have been impossible to master without certain people, whom I would like to thank now. First of all, I would like to thank my tutors Zeenath Hasan and Mikael Blomqvist for always giving valuable input and feedback and to organize the whole semester allowing us to focus on researching, writing and designing. I would also like to thank all the people that participated in my workshop and those that I was in creative dialogues with, because they shaped the project to the way it is now. Then I would like to thank all those people that I have met along the way that have wished me good luck and best wishes, often probably without knowing why exactly. But I felt empowered nonetheless. A special thank you goes to my classmates that have supported me along the way and for Chris for always maintaining a critical view towards cars, which was at times necessary for creative progress. Also, he’s bringing me a pizza right now, and food is always good and valuable, which is why I would like to thank Sweden for having invented Kanelbullar, because they’re just amazing. In particular however, I would like to thank Bowen and Johanna for sticking around at times I wasn’t at my peak of positivity or enthusiasm and for always bearing with the choice of music that I had. Without Johanna specifically, I would still be walking in circles and pulling on lose ends. Finally, I would like to express my profound gratitude towards my parents and siblings for always being on my side and allowing me to stay positive at times I was confused and for continuously showing support and encouragement. This thesis and project would be nowhere without those people and wouldn’t have been possible. For that I would like to thank everybody involved with all my heart. Lennart Schmitz Please Note This paper is best viewed on a screen and includes a lot of color. Also, it is quite long. By viewing this thesis on a screen and not printing it, the impacts on the environment will therefore be reduced. Please note that this thesis version is an edited version with copyrighted material and images removed. Thank you, Lennart Schmitz Table of Content Introduction .............................................. 8 Literature Review ....................................... 11 Historical Development of cars and context .............11 Reasons for product portfolio extension ..................14 Impacts ................................................................15 Impacts on Complexity ..........................................15 Modular Platform Strategy .....................................16 Impacts on workforce ............................................17 Impacts on the environment ...................................17 Critical Analysis ......................................... 19 Call for Change ......................................... 22 Design Project ........................................... 24 Design process ......................................................24 Co-Design Workshop Set-up ..................................27 Final concept and design ........................................31 Possibilities for future development ........................35 Discussion ................................................ 38 Impacts on sustainability ........................................38 Evaluation .............................................................39 Conclusion ................................................ 41 References ................................................ 43 Literature ..............................................................43 Illustrations ...........................................................46 Appendices ............................................... 48 Appendix A - BMW model portfolio .........................48 Appendix B - Early illustration .................................49 Appendix C - Sketches ...........................................50 Appendix D - Workshop results documentation ........52 Exhibition Project Description ..................... 56 Introduction Cars are a divergent topic in todays society, people tric cars on the roads, and the car manufacturers either love them or hate them. Cars are something are constantly working on decreasing the impacts difficult to take a stand on because, on the one on the environment. But then came 2015, the year hand, they’re a major cause for global warming, in which Volkswagen and soon after the biggest and the infrastructures built in towns are all about German automakers “were found to have manip- cars and individual transport with personal vehi- ulated nitrogen-oxide emissions from some of cles. On the other hand, we value the indepen- their diesel cars” (Petzinger, 2017, para. 1). Thus, dence a car gives us. It allows us to travel to plac- it seems, as if the issue of sustainability does not es, and ironically enough, connects us to nature, seem to be taken seriously by the car industry, af- the very place being destroyed by our demands ter all. to travel with cars. To a certain degree, cars turn us, to quote a participant from the workshop I’ve Coming from Germany and growing up there, I’ve organized, into “individuals stuck in tiny individ- generally had a positive attitude towards cars and ual boxes all getting poisoned by the exhaust of the car industry, as the German car industry is fossil fuels that are also poisoning the rest of the one of the major reasons for economical growth in planet.” But despite this big dilemma about cars, Germany. It is for that reason, that I have worked we drive them, we buy them, and we use them. for several years during my studies for both the One could argue, that if they are so bad, it should BMW Group in Munich as well as for the Daimler be the responsibility of those, building these vehi- AG in the fields of design and innovation. Design cles to ensure that they’re safe to use without any with a focus on innovation has also been the focus major impacts on the environment. Thus it should of my studies during the Bachelor’s. Now, during be the car industry’s responsibility to take care of the Master’s in Transdisciplinary Design and Sus- sustainability, so we, as consumers, don’t have to tainability, however, the focus is put much more think or change our behavior. And it seems as if on questioning and criticizing and using the ability the car manufacturers have done a lot, with one of design to highlight and create change towards example being an increase in the number of elec- more sustainable futures. It is therefore my pro- 8 Cars - the future is flexible Introduction fessional, but also personal interest to be doing a ed, however, also show that there seems to be thesis concerned with the future of and with cars. no end in sight. Product portfolios are growing constantly, which results in increasingly stress- This is what forms the starting point for this thesis ful and demanding jobs for the labor force (Hu, project. Having had experience working in the car Zhu, Wang, & Koren, 2008), increased chances industry and just generally expressing interest in for quality failure (Wells & Rawlinson, 1994), in- cars and the future, I’ve noticed something. I’ve creasingly complex manufacturing processes, and noticed that seemingly everyone has a car,