Blockchain Solutions for a Sophisticated and Cyber-Resilient Automotive Sector

Over the past hundred years, the automotive sector has significantly changed society, becoming one of the most intricate, advanced, and tech-savvy industries, showcasing innovations such as hybrid, electric, and autonomous vehicles, as well as IoT enabled cars. Its complexity necessitates the integration of numerous Industry 4.0 technologies, including robotics, cutting-edge manufacturing systems, cyber-physical systems, and augmented reality. A recent technology that could benefit the automotive sector is blockchain, which has the potential to improve data security, privacy, user anonymity, traceability, accountability, integrity, robustness, transparency, trust, and authentication, while also promoting long-term sustainability and enhancing operational efficiency across the entire industry. This review explores the substantial potential for implementing blockchain technology in the automotive sector, particularly focusing on its cybersecurity advantages. Consequently, the relevance of blockchain is assessed by analyzing the current state of the industry and addressing the primary challenges faced by key stakeholders. Additionally, the article outlines the most significant use cases, as the extensive implementation of blockchain opens up numerous short and medium-term promising automotive applications that have the potential to create new business models and even revolutionize the current car-sharing economy. Lastly, following a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, several recommendations are provided to assist researchers and companies in advancing cyber-resilient developments within the automotive industry.