Auto manufacturers are using AI to compress new-car design and development cycles, with GM and Nissan deploying tools to accelerate sketches-to-production workflows.

GM is feeding hand-drawn sketches into a commercially available tool called Vizcom to create fully realized 3D models and animations in hours, a process that previously took multiple teams multiple months. Nissan is working toward a 30-month goal for new cars and is automating menial software development tasks like unit tests.

GM has developed an AI-powered virtual wind tunnel that provides near-instantaneous predictions of drag, allowing designers to get real-time feedback as they push and pull car surfaces. Neural Concept, a Swiss company, has brought neural networks to computational fluid dynamics (CFD, the science of determining how well a fluid flows around a shape), compressing aero jobs that previously took 4 hours into 1 minute at Jaguar Land Rover.

Design studio headcount may be at risk despite manufacturer assurances about productivity gains. Matteo Licata, a former automobile designer and professor at IAAD in Turin, stated that 'only a fool will believe that such a massive productivity boost isn't going to affect a studio's headcount one way or the other,' and warned that getting into car design will become harder for students.