In terms of “more effective process” I think most companies are pretty happy with their overall process, but like yo mentioned the concept selection phase tends to be much more “emotional” driven which is why the right sketch can tug the direction stronger than a highly detailed CAD model at that phase.
I don’t know the average size of automotive design studios, but there are a lot of designers who will touch a car under the role of a lead designer or studio head. Individual designers are tasked with components under those themes, and while I don’t know if it’s still common practice, sometimes the interiors will be farmed out to external agencies (I was told that 12+ years ago when American car designs were crap, so I imagine most of that is in-house now).
I wouldn’t say it’s bleak so much as it’s realistic and a small market with fierce competition. I have met a lot of guys who have come from transportation backgrounds over the years and most of them realized they would rather work on projects with shorter life-cycles where they can have a bigger impact in the final product. For car design, that can take a 10-20 year time investment to work your way up the corporate ladder. And as the saying goes you have a better shot becoming a professional basketball player than you do a professional car designer.
It’s also one reason you see companies like BMW Designworks, Porsche Design, even Pininfarina that have spun off their own Industrial Design consulting businesses. They had excess capacity for design and realized they could make a profit putting all those world-class designers to work on other peoples projects.