Architecture and Engineering · Holland code RIC

Automotive Engineers

Develop new or improved designs for vehicle structural members, engines, transmissions, or other vehicle systems, using computer-assisted design technology. Direct building, modification, or testing of vehicle or components.

Also called: Engineer, Product Engineer, Project Engineer, Research Engineer, Dimensional Integration Engineer.

O*NET 17-2141.02

At a glance

US median annual pay: $104,110; Middle half earn $84,130 to $132,590. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 71% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +9% · Much faster than average; 293,100 jobs in 2024, projected 319,600. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Mechanical engineers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Conduct or direct system-level automotive testing.
Provide technical direction to other engineers or engineering support personnel.
Perform failure, variation, or root cause analyses.
Calibrate vehicle systems, including control algorithms or other software systems.
Design or analyze automobile systems in areas such as aerodynamics, alternate fuels, ergonomics, hybrid power, brakes, transmissions, steering, calibration, safety, or diagnostics.
Prepare or present technical or project status reports.
Conduct research studies to develop new concepts in the field of automotive engineering.
Establish production or quality control standards.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Speaking3.9 / 5
Mathematics3.9 / 5
Active Listening3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Engineering and Technology4.7 / 5
Physics4.3 / 5
Mathematics4.3 / 5
Mechanical4.1 / 5
Design3.9 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic86
Investigative78
Artistic26
Social6
Enterprising19
Conventional51

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

aerodynamics engineer · DE Ingenieur Aerodynamik/Ingenieurin Aerodynamik · FR aérodynamicien/aérodynamicienne
automotive engineer · DE Automobilingenieur/Automobilingenieurin · FR ingénieur automobile/ingénieure automobile
automotive designer · DE Automobildesigner/Automobildesignerin · FR designer automobile/designeuse automobile

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Clothing, fashion and accessories designers (3422)18,300 employed
Mechanical engineers (professional) (2122)94,400 employed
Quality control and planning engineers (2481)35,700 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.00. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (17-2141).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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