Automotive Suppliers and the Revenue Acquisition Process – Then and Now: 2025 Update

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Automotive Suppliers and the Revenue Acquisition Process – Then and Now: 2025 Update

The comparison shows that the RA process remains at the core of supplier performance but has not become more efficient. Suppliers are now processing more RFQs each year — typically over 800 according to 2025 study respondents, compared with 495 in 2002 — and spending more time on each, with the average rising from 134 hours to 157. More functions are now directly involved, including engineering, finance, cost engineering, and plant management, which has improved budgeting discipline and reduced late-stage surprises but lengthened cycle times overall.

Hit rates have improved since 2002, suggesting that suppliers are winning a higher share of the business they pursue. Yet it is unclear how much of this reflects better quoting practices versus broader market dynamics such as consolidation, which has reduced the number of bidders in certain areas. What is clear is that the higher win rates are being achieved at greater cost, with suppliers committing more organizational resources to each opportunity.

Survey feedback and workshop discussions highlighted several persistent barriers. The most pressing is the loss of “sticky knowledge” as experienced staff retire or move on. RFQ know-how is often undocumented, slowing responses and reducing quality when teams change. Suppliers also pointed to weak system integration—cost data, BOMs, and RFQ history are spread across multiple incompatible platforms, forcing manual work and creating errors. Post-launch reviews, especially in cost engineering, are inconsistently used, leaving lessons uncollected and assumptions untested.

Technology adoption remains uneven. Most suppliers are not yet applying AI to quoting, though many plan pilots within the next 12 months. Fragmented data remains the greater obstacle; without better system integration, AI will not provide meaningful efficiency gains.

CAR research also identifies an asymmetry in system investment: automakers are pulling ahead by modernizing procurement platforms, consolidating data, and automating workflows. Many suppliers remain constrained by legacy IT and limited budgets, widening the gap between OEM and supplier capabilities.

The overall conclusion is that suppliers are working harder and involving more of the organization to compete for business, but efficiency gains have not followed. To close the gap, suppliers need to invest in systems that preserve “sticky knowledge,” better integrate data, and apply consistent reviews (process feedback loops) — win or loss — that include cost engineering and capture lessons for future bids. Such systems should also make ROI targets of at least 15% (cost of capital plus margin) easy to see, track how bids perform against them, and show accountability across the team. Automakers, for their part, need to provide greater transparency in sourcing expectations. Addressing these issues jointly is essential if the RA process is to deliver both competitiveness for suppliers and reliability for automakers.