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The differences between automotive engineers 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 engineer and a product engineer. Additionally, a product engineer has an average salary of $89,645, which is higher than the $82,211 average annual salary of an automotive engineer.
The top three skills for an automotive engineer include CAD, ISO and adaptive. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Automotive Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,211 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $39.52 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 104,464 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
An automotive engineer specializes in designing and developing vehicles for public or private use. Their job entails conducting extensive research and analyses, conceptualizing plans with fellow experts, building prototypes and structures, troubleshooting problems, and implementing multiple test procedures to identify how the vehicle operates at different conditions and ensure its quality adheres to standards and regulations. Besides developing new vehicles, an automotive engineer may also modify existing models, which requires them to study the market and consumers' feedback, identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, and coordinate upgrades.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Automotive engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Automotive Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,211 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $118,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Belmont, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Cal | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Technology |
There are a few differences between an automotive engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Automotive Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between automotive engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Automotive Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.0% Female, 7.0% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 15.9% White, 67.7% 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% |