Future Engineering Bets
Board Level Conversations on High Stakes Engineering Decisions
Designed for decision-makers navigating complex trade-offs between technology, capital, and risk.
Stream the latest episode now
Have Automotive OEMs Lost Control Of Their Own Market? | Future Engineering Bets
In this episode, Fred Warner asks whether legacy automotive OEMs have lost control of ...their own market. As electrification accelerates, the power in automotive is shifting away from traditional vehicle manufacturing and towards batteries, software, supply chains, IP, and technology platforms.
From China’s dominance in EV battery supply chains to Volkswagen’s software challenges, BYD’s rise, and the growing role of tech-led suppliers, this episode explores whether OEMs are still the industry’s power players - or whether they are becoming assembly brands in a market increasingly controlled by others.
For investors, boards, and engineering leaders, the real question is no longer simply who builds the car. It’s who owns the value behind it.
What’s in this episode:
- Why legacy OEMs may be losing control of the automotive value chain
- How batteries and software are changing where profit sits
- China’s growing dominance in EV supply chains
- Why software-defined vehicles are a major challenge for traditional manufacturers
- What Volkswagen, Rivian, Stellantis, BYD, Volvo and Northvolt reveal about the shift
- Whether OEMs risk becoming mechanical integrators rather than value owners
- Who may capture future margin: OEMs, Tier 1s, software firms or battery suppliers
- Where investors may need to look next in automotive
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Have OEMs lost control?
02:15 The powertrain problem
04:31 The software-defined vehicle trap
06:27 China’s dominance of the EV ecosystem
08:33 Who owns the IP and customer?
10:03 Who captures the profit?
12:00 Final verdict: have OEMs lost control?
13:33 Where should investors place their bets?
About Future Engineering Bets:
Future Engineering Bets is for CEOs, board members, and private equity investors making high-stakes decisions in electrification, energy transition, and advanced engineering strategy. Get a boardroom-level view of the engineering decisions shaping billions in capital investment and defining the future of automotive and mobility. Each episode breaks down the engineering, commercial, and strategic realities behind topics such as:
- Electric vehicles and the global EV transition
- Hybrid powertrains and the future of internal combustion
- Hydrogen, sustainable fuels, and emerging propulsion systems
- Product strategy and R&D investment at OEM and Tier 1 level
- Market dynamics across Europe, the US, and China
- The impact of regulation versus real consumer demand
If you are responsible for product direction, capital allocation, or technology strategy, this series will help you think more clearly about where to place your next bet.
About Fred Warner:
Fred Warner, Founder of 7Q Ltd (https://7q.ltd/), is a specialist partner and Chartered Engineer connecting capital investment with no nonsense value creation. With a background spanning motorsport, aerospace, automotive, clean tech, rail, and electronics - including experience across F1, Honeywell, GE, and Meggitt - Fred works with CEOs, boards, and investors on high stakes engineering and R&D programmes. Connect with Fred on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-warner/Show More
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What These Conversations Explore
Each Future Engineering Bets discussion breaks down the real drivers, constraints, and failure modes behind major engineering decisions, including:
The focus is on benefit realisation, technical deliverability, organisational reality, and capital discipline, factors that ultimately determine success or failure.
Who Future Engineering Bets Is For
This series is designed for leaders responsible for directional engineering decisions, including:
- CEOs shaping product and technology strategy
- Board directors overseeing engineering led businesses
- Private equity firms and capital investors deploying capital into complex technical environments
- Strategy, R&D, and CTO level leaders influencing long-term capability and valuation
If you are accountable for product direction, capital allocation, or technology strategy, these conversations are designed to help you think more clearly about where to place your next bet.
Why 7Q Created Future Engineering Bets
7Q partners with Boards, PE firms, shareholders and capital investors making irreversible engineering decisions – whether investing, intervening, or preparing for transition.
Future Engineering Bets exists to bring open, intelligent discussion to the types of engineering questions that are often simplified, politicised, or obscured in public debate – but which matter deeply inside boardrooms.
Hosted by Fred Warner
Future Engineering Bets is hosted by Fred Warner, Founder of 7Q and a Chartered Engineer with over 25 years’ experience across motorsport, aerospace, automotive, clean tech, rail, and electronics.
Fred works alongside CEOs, boards, and investors on highstakes engineering and R&D decisions, connecting capital investment with nononsense value creation. The series reflects his longstanding experience of how engineering decisions are made – and how organisations succeed or fail when complexity, regulation, and capital collide.
Want to Get Involved?
If you’re navigating high‑stakes engineering decisions – whether around product strategy, capital allocation, or technology direction – we welcome informed voices and perspectives into the conversation.