I'm a 'new boy' in automotive engineering compared to some of you - I've only been at it 25 years. Some as in engine development, some in fuel storage and delivery and some as a so-called component engineer. Before the car industry, it was aero and defence electronics for 7 years.
After 15 years with an auto manufacturer, I spent some time at a tier one/two fuel system supplier and recently went back into the same auto manufacturer.
The major thing which struck me on returning was how this particular manufacturer now relies almost exclusively on its tier ones/twos doing the technical design work, having been handed a package envelope by the auto company.
Hand in hand with this, many grey-hairs have left the auto manufacturer in recent years, either by inducement or because they've had enough of the way things are managed. The void left has been filled by young, well (academically) qualified engineers, however, many have never been under a car, held a file or broken a finger nail in anger.
The result -
Lots of people, stuck at a desk all day, responding to and sending emails
Plenty of meetings to attend
Cameos of potential Dilbert cartoons appearing daily
Suppliers being squeezed on costs for new models
Suppliers (as already mentioned) whacking in big costs for current model changes
Some suppliers not actually capable of replicating the technical competencies that the auto maker used to have
Consultancies being used to supply services that the automaker used to have in-house (CAD, CAE, CFD etc)
Engineers that talk a good game but can't play it (like football commentators)
Old ideas and practices being reinvented regularly
.......and all of these are the result of the drive to greater profitability and reinventing the company with a younger, dynamic workforce. In itself, not a bad thing, it keeps the company alert and alive. However, I think many of these 'initiatives' are led by accountants and business analysts without any resort to advice from the teams that design and build the vehicles.
Auto manufactureres didn't get where they are today on the basis of what they are today. If everything they did in the past was bad news and bad practice, they would exist now.