The highest R&D investment in the world ranked third in the automotive industry

According to the top 1000 corporate data for 2009 UK and global R&D investment released by the UK Department of Commerce, Innovation and Skills in late November 2010, and the most innovative 1000 global company data released by Booz & Company in 2010, Although the investment in R&D in the automotive industry declined in 2009 compared with the previous year, the automotive industry is still the third largest industry in R&D investment in the world.

According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, Innovation and Skills in the UK, of the top 1000 companies in the world's R&D investment in 2009, R&D spending for automotive and component companies was £ 55,128 million (see Figure 1), which is more than the number of cars and components listed in the previous year. The overall R&D investment of the company decreased by 11.4%.

Of the top 1000 corporate R&D expenditures reported by the agency, R&D in the automotive and parts industries accounted for 16%, making it the third largest R&D investment in the world. The proportion of its R&D investment is only lower than that of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (19%) and the technology hardware and equipment industry (17%), but higher than the software and computer service industry (7%), the electronic and electrical equipment industry (accounting for 7 %), and other industries. (See Figure 2)

In the R&D spending of the top 1,000 companies invested in R&D in the UK in 2009, R&D in the automotive and parts industries accounted for 6%, which is the fourth largest investment in R&D in the UK. From the data of these 1,000 companies, the three industries with the highest investment in R&D in the UK are medicine and biology (35%), aerospace and defense (7%), and software and computer services (6%). The technology hardware and equipment industry and the electrical and electronic equipment industry have already dropped out of the top five industries in which the UK’s R&D investment is the largest. (See Figure 3)

According to Booz & Company's statistics, in 2009 the global auto industry's R&D investment decreased by US$12.144 billion from the previous year to US$73.082 billion. In spite of this, the auto industry is still the third largest industry in global R&D investment, accounting for 14.5% of the total R&D investment of statistical companies. (See Figure 4)

In the statistics of this organization, the two industries with the highest R&D investment in the world are the computer/electronic industry and the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, which accounted for 27.2% and 22.4% of the total R&D investment of statistical companies.

Note:

In the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, Innovation and Skills of the United Kingdom, Yamaha and Italy's IMMSI have also been classified into the automotive and parts industries, and BYD is classified as the electronic equipment industry.