How AI is Speeding Up Car Design and Manufacturing

General Motors and Nissan are using artificial intelligence throughout the process of building cars, from the first sketch of a design to the factory floor. The change cuts weeks or months of work down to hours in some cases.

GM designers now use Vizcom, an AI tool that takes hand-drawn sketches and turns them into detailed 3D models and animations in just a few hours. Before, the same work took several months. GM tested this on concept vehicles like the Chevy P2, using AI to create complete animations of how the car would drive and perform on highways.

Beyond sketches, GM built an AI-powered virtual wind tunnel. Instead of building physical test cars and putting them in actual wind tunnels, the AI estimates how much air resistance a car design will face in seconds. Engineers can now test dozens of design ideas during the planning stage, before they ever build a prototype.

Nissan is focusing its AI effort on automating routine engineering tasks. The company says this speeds up software development and also improves its quality. Nissan partnered with UK-based AI firm Monolith to cut down on physical testing—including something as specific as testing how tight to fasten bolts on a car's chassis.

Making Cars and Running Factories

GM also uses AI in its factories. The technology monitors working conditions and helps reduce injuries and strain on factory workers. In GM's racing teams, AI systems read live data from cars during races and suggest better pit strategies.

GM is working with NVIDIA to build AI systems that will design future vehicles, factories, and robots. Upcoming GM cars will have NVIDIA hardware inside to power safety features and driver-assistance systems.

Spreading Across the Industry

Neural Concept, a Swiss AI company whose software several automakers are now using, raised $100 million in new funding. This shows investors believe AI for car design is here to stay. The company launched its AI design tool in January 2026 and raised $27 million in earlier funding in June 2024.

Many car parts suppliers are adopting the same AI tools. OPmobility used Neural Concept's AI to design quieter fuel tanks for hybrid vehicles. Another company, Antolin, used it to redesign car interiors. Even a Formula One racing team is using the software to design faster race cars.

Why This Matters Right Now

Car makers around the world are under pressure to move faster. They face competition from new companies, uncertain demand, and the growing challenge of electric vehicles and self-driving technology. Speeding up design helps them keep up.

We have seen similar shifts before. When computers first replaced hand drafting in the 1980s and 1990s, they started by doing the same work faster—tracing lines on a screen instead of with a pencil. Later, computers made entirely new kinds of design possible. AI in car design is following the same pattern: it starts by making familiar tasks quicker, but it will eventually enable new design approaches that weren't possible before.

Nissan announced it plans to roll out AI technology across most of its fleet over time while cutting down the number of car models it makes. The company sees AI as key to staying competitive as markets shift.

The shift to AI-driven design is more than just making the old process faster. The traditional way of designing a car worked in steps: sketch it, build a model, make a prototype, test it, then go back and fix things. AI is changing this. Now, computers can suggest improvements while designers are still in the early planning phase, turning what used to be one-way steps into a back-and-forth conversation between human designers and AI.

GM also uses AI to help write the software in cars—everything from the dashboard screens to the systems that help you drive safely. This software usually needs lots of testing, and AI can speed that up.

For the first time, designers can test thousands of different car designs at once. They can check aerodynamics, strength, and how easy it will be to manufacture, all at the same time. Before, engineers had to pick just a few designs to build because testing so many would take too long and cost too much.

For car makers and suppliers, using AI is becoming something you have to do to stay in business. Companies that adopt AI can respond faster to what customers want and what the market needs. Companies still using the old methods are at a real disadvantage when it comes to getting new cars to market quickly.