Automotive designer vs product engineer

The differences between automotive designers and product engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an automotive designer and a product engineer. Additionally, a product engineer has an average salary of $89,645, which is higher than the $69,782 average annual salary of an automotive designer.

The top three skills for an automotive designer include industrial design, sketch and powertrain. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.

Automotive designer vs product engineer overview

	Automotive Designer	Product Engineer
Yearly salary	$69,782	$89,645
Hourly rate	$33.55	$43.10
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	76,806	157,888
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

Automotive designer vs product engineer salary

Automotive designers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Automotive Designer	Product Engineer
Average salary	$69,782	$89,645
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $108,000	Between $68,000 And $118,000
Highest paying City	Belmont, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	California
Best paying company	Meta	Meta
Best paying industry	Automotive	Technology

Differences between automotive designer and product engineer education

There are a few differences between an automotive designer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:

	Automotive Designer	Product Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Mechanical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Northwestern University	Michigan Technological University

Automotive designer vs product engineer demographics

Here are the differences between automotive designers' and product engineers' demographics:

	Automotive Designer	Product Engineer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 80.2% Female, 19.8%	Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 11.0% White, 70.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between automotive designer and product engineer duties and responsibilities

Automotive designer example responsibilities.

Manage documentation of existing projects, perform ECN resolutions.
Design of brackets and torsion bar components are validated using FEA inSolidworks.
Designate as group training mentor during transition from CADAM to Unigraphics V9.
Complete several fully fillet and draft angle solid models on Unigraphics for direct manufacturing.
Perform mechanical engineering design for facilities including calculate building HVAC requirements to ensure adequate capacity of system air flow.
Release drawings and BOMs in PDM/Link Windchill.

Product engineer example responsibilities.

Lead team to achieve project objectives and report results to Sr. Management.
Manage outsourced $500k mix mode voice security IC development.
Manage various EHS activities at the Fremont, California facility.
Manage coordination of APQP, component timing, and technical resource allocation for commercial issues.
Manage the manufacturing of defense and aerospace electro-mechanical print circuit boards from prototype to production level.
Sketch concepts (Creo), coordinate prototype builds, provide assembly instructions and troubleshoot build issues.

Automotive designer vs product engineer skills

Common automotive designer skills

Industrial Design, 24%
Sketch, 19%
Powertrain, 13%
FEA, 11%
Cost Reduction, 9%
Catia V5, 8%

Common product engineer skills

CAD, 6%
Product Design, 5%
Project Management, 4%
C++, 4%
Solidworks, 3%
Product Development, 3%