The urgent issues for automobile companies today are how to reduce the time and cost required for developing a new car. �@CAE ( Computer Aided Engineering ) has been regarded as an efficient way to solve these issues, and as a numerical experiment to replace prototypes and experiments. CAE was first introduced to reproduce phenomena that are elusive in regular experiments. Now it is even capable of optimizing the design parameters to achieve the desired performances. Moreover, the necessity for FOA ( First Order Analysis ) is under current discussion. This refers to the CAE that covers processes such as project planning and grand design, which have not been paid much attention so far. This new CAE is expected to help designers create basic design and to reduce eventually the entire production time. This paper will briefly overview how CAE has contributed to vehicle development and address its future applications.

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