Automotive design engineers create body, trim, chassis and powertrain parts for vehicles. This roadmap builds the CATIA and NX part, assembly and surface skills that carmakers and their suppliers expect.
Automotive drawings rely heavily on datum schemes and profile tolerances. Learn projections, sections and GD&T so you can read customer drawings correctly.
Part Design, Assembly Design and Drafting workbenches: build solid parts, constrain assemblies and generate drawings to automotive practice.
Work with CATIA surface tools to build trims, covers and panels with smooth, continuous surfaces, a skill plastic and body teams look for.
Modelling, assemblies and drafting in NX, so you can work with carmakers and suppliers whose vehicle programmes run on the NX platform.
Freeform and surface modelling in NX for styled exterior and interior parts, giving you surface skills on both major automotive platforms.
Finish the program and its project — you get the course-completion certificate and a digital completion badge with your name.
Take the certification exam: a theory test on the software of the program and a practical task of the job — at the centre or online.
Pass the exam and get the certified certificate with your marksheet. Anyone can check it online with its QR code.
Your certified badge — add it to LinkedIn and share it anywhere; it opens its own verify page.
Make your CV in your student panel (Career → My CV) — your program, certificates and projects are added for you. Send it as a link with a preview picture, apply to jobs and answer Hire Me requests from companies.
The counsellor can shorten or extend this plan for your qualification and the time you have. Ask for your personal plan →
Join at the level that suits you — each level is a complete course you can enrol in.
Entry job — the first steps of the roadmap
The whole roadmap — every software of the job
An automotive design engineer designs the parts that make up a car, two-wheeler, truck or tractor: plastic trims and bumpers, sheet metal body panels and brackets, seating, lighting, chassis and engine components. Daily work includes modelling parts in CATIA or NX, building assemblies inside a vehicle package, checking clearances and assembly feasibility, applying GD&T and releasing 2D drawings and 3D data to suppliers.
Vehicle programmes are large and data is shared between the carmaker and many suppliers, so engineers must follow strict modelling standards and work in the CAD platform the customer uses. Some vehicle makers run their programmes on CATIA and others on NX, so knowing both makes you useful to more teams.
Employers include vehicle manufacturers (OEMs), Tier-1 and Tier-2 component suppliers, and engineering service companies in automotive hubs such as Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and the NCR region. Electric vehicles, new two-wheeler models and export design projects keep these teams busy.
Get a diploma or B.Tech in mechanical or automobile engineering, learn drawing and GD&T, and then master CATIA and NX for parts, assemblies and surfaces. Build a portfolio of automotive parts such as a bracket, trim panel and bumper.
Both are widely used. Each vehicle maker chooses one platform and its suppliers follow. Learning CATIA first and then NX lets you apply to companies on either platform.
CATIA and NX are the main 3D tools in automotive design, with Creo also used by some companies. Engineers also need drawing reading, GD&T and basic knowledge of plastics, sheet metal and manufacturing processes.
About 280 hours: Engineering Drawing 20, GD&T 20, CATIA for Design Engineer 60, CATIA for Industrial Designer 60, NX for Design Engineer 60 and NX for Industrial Designer 60.
Yes. Many suppliers and engineering service companies hire diploma holders as CAD engineers or design trainees, especially those with strong CATIA or NX skills and a portfolio of realistic parts.
Yes. CATIA and NX modules are taught in live online classes and at classroom centres. Regular practice between sessions on realistic automotive parts makes the biggest difference.
More questions? Ask our counsellor or see all career roadmaps.
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