Whenever problems arise in the rail vehicle industry, a comparison to other industry sectors is drawn. Thus it is also required, that methods and processes of the assumed superior performing industry should be transferred into the rail vehicle industry. Quite often the automotive industry is defined as the bench mark. These partially unilateral discussions are also consistently guided without being aware of the markets, structures, environments and products etc. of the industries being compared, highlighting only particular topics. To counteract this discussion this research compared the rail vehicle industry with the automotive industry in different criteria with the target o f deriving and transferring benefits from the automotive to the rail vehicle industry with regards to a holistic approach under the consideration o f different markets, environments, histories and respective products. The idea presented in this thesis arose as a result of the author's work for six years in the automotive industry and then fourteen years in the Voith company as a designer of final drives for rail applications, project manager, head of production control and project management in the new build and service business. Investigations have been performed at the level of OEMs, who are positioned at the top of the value-added pyramid. The investigations concerning the existing work illustrated that a sparse amount of research had been carried out, meaning a small amount of knowledge was available as a basis for the investigation of the research question. Therefore the research question could be regarded as an exploratory one, which meant in consequence the application of a qualitative approach. The research process started with an extensive literature review including the history, the markets, the products and challenges of the automotive and the rail vehicle industry. Comparison criteria were developed on the basis of several different templates. A questionnaire answered by nineteen senior people with amounts of experience in both sectors was carried out. The results offered first findings of the industry practice as well as the significance and the potential of the research question were confirmed. On the basis of the acquired knowledge, sixteen expert interviews were conducted with experts out of the automotive and rail vehicle industry in order to ensure an accurate reflection o f the industry practices. In total twenty-four hypotheses for possible benefits were constructed and finally assessed. For fifteen hypotheses or benefits the significance o f a transfer from the automotive to the rail vehicle industry was assessed as fulfilled without any restrictions, fo r seven hypotheses or benefits with restrictions and for two hypotheses or benefits the significance o f a transfer was assessed as not fulfilled. The potentials for the twenty-two hypotheses, which are defined as significant to transfer, were investigated nineteen times as “high” and three times as “middle”. “Low” potentials could not be recognised. Finally a model Rail Company with automotive benefits was designed.