  Within the growing domain of software engineering in the automotive sector,
the number of used tools, processes, methods and languages has increased
distinctly in the past years. To be able to choose proper methods for
particular development use cases, factors like the intended use, key-features
and possible limitations have to be evaluated. This requires a taxonomy that
aids the decision making. An analysis of the main existing taxonomies revealed
two major deficiencies: the lack of the automotive focus and the limitation to
particular engineering method types. To face this, a graphical taxonomy is
proposed based on two well-established engineering approaches and enriched with
additional classification information. It provides a self-evident and
-explanatory overview and comparison technique for engineering methods in the
automotive domain. The taxonomy is applied to common automotive engineering
methods. The resulting diagram classifies each method and enables the reader to
select appropriate solutions for given project requirements.
