This paper focuses on the performance limitations of solving large automotive simulation applications. Some recommendations are given for improving the solution process. The content is based upon the author’s experience in the U.S. automotive industry and on his recent investigation of U.S. automotive applications while he was a NASA/ASEE Summer Research Fellow in the Computational AeroSciences Team at NASA Langley Research Center. Most of the applications are in the following areas: computational fluid dynamics (CFD), crash analysis, Noise-Vibration-Harshness (NVH) modeling, manufacturing problems such as metal forming processes, and multidisciplinary optimization problems such as combinations of NVH and crash analysis.