Executive Briefings 2025

ICDP’s Executive Briefings - high-level summaries of our insights on the full range of programme topics - are available for all to read and download. If you make use of them in your own material, please remember to attribute ICDP as the source.

Executive Briefings going back to 2020 are also available to download from the website.

A sleek blue sports car on display inside a modern showroom with large windows and a digital screen in the background.

NSC or independent importer, a strategic decision

EB 05/25 Gareth Arnould

The wider challenges facing the industry bring into stark focus the overall distribution strategy that OEMs should be taking, and over the past 15 years there has been some considerable change in how manufacturers approach distribution across the EU and the UK. During the 2010s the was a significant shift from the use of independent importers towards using NSCs.

Illustration of connected autonomous vehicles over a cityscape at night, symbolizing smart transportation networks.

Is the digital and connected car delivering additional value and revenue?

EB 04/25 Ben Waller

This briefing explores the evolving business models, market dynamics, and strategic implications of the connected car revolution, drawing on research interviews with distribution businesses and experimental services from Fintech and Greentech startups that are making innovative and sophisticated use of vehicle connectivity.

A woman and man at a car dealership, the woman is showing a car to the man, holding a folder, and pointing at the car door.

Diary of a car buyer – too little, too late?

EB 03/25 Gareth Arnould

This is the second in our series of short briefings looking at and documenting a real-world car buyer’s experience. After a month of doing nothing when it comes to my car buying journey, this week two things have happened out of the blue. Firstly, the local dealer for my current brand has been in touch. And secondly, I took an impromptu test drive. What’s that saying about busses, again?

 

A woman showing a car key to a man in a parking garage.

A potential new car buyer – a tale of radio silence

EB 02/ 25 Gareth Arnould

Welcome to a new, short, series of briefings we are publishing in 2025, where we are looking at and documenting a real-world car buyer’s experience, detailing the highs and lows of an industry ICDP has been working in for over 30 years.

Diagram of connected icons representing various elements of smart vehicle technology, including a car, home, parking, gas station, pedestrian, satellite, Wi-Fi, cloud, smartphone, and speakers.

What is a Software Defined Vehicle and why does it matter?

 EB 01/25 Ben Waller

Software Defined Vehicle, or SDV, is being hailed as the future of new car design. But what actually is a Software Defined Vehicle, why does it matter, and what are the distribution implications?