When products are developed in 3D for the engineering applications, the data is initially stored in the native format of the used CAD software. If this 3D CAD data is to be made available to people who do not have this software, neutral 3D formats are needed. For visualization of product data in the engineering field - regardless of native CAD formats – various 3D formats are available. Among these are disclosed or standardized formats like PDF from Adobe, JT and also X3D, Collada and STEP. The choice of a format has many implications, including the options available for using the data and the resulting follow-up costs. This paper illustrates an overview of the state of development, the committees’ activities, of current practical examples and gives an outlook for future developments too. The record is completed by examples from the industrial practice in the automotive industry.