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A Successful Transformation?Central and East European Automobile Industry

A Successful Transformation?: Central and East European Automobile Industry 1 Central and East European Automobile Industry The recent changes in the global automobile industry involved, among others, its continuing consolidation, the changes in production strategies, the redefinition of relations between assemblers and suppliers, and, conse- quently, the major shifts in its geography of production (e.g. Dicken 2003:355-398; Conybeare 2004). Globalization in the automobile industry has been typified by an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions, in- volving not only car makers but also components producers, and by a growing number of the technology-, research- and market-oriented interna- tional strategic alliances and cross-shareholdings among automobile pro- ducers. The wave of mergers and acquisitions in the past twenty years has led to an increasing global concentration of the automobile industry. By 2005, the ten largest company alliances (including their affiliates and wholly-owned companies) accounted for 90% of the global market with the top five accounting for 75% (The Economist 2005:63). During this pe- riod, the relentless Japanese and, more recently, South Korean competition forced the West European and U.S. auto makers to introduce new produc- tion concepts to cut production costs and maximize product and labor flexibility to make car factories lean and flexible. The goals were to free idle http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Successful Transformation?Central and East European Automobile Industry

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Publisher
Physica-Verlag HD
Copyright
© Physica-Verlag Heidelberg 2008
ISBN
978-3-7908-2039-3
Pages
1 –32
DOI
10.1007/978-3-7908-2040-9_1
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

1 Central and East European Automobile Industry The recent changes in the global automobile industry involved, among others, its continuing consolidation, the changes in production strategies, the redefinition of relations between assemblers and suppliers, and, conse- quently, the major shifts in its geography of production (e.g. Dicken 2003:355-398; Conybeare 2004). Globalization in the automobile industry has been typified by an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions, in- volving not only car makers but also components producers, and by a growing number of the technology-, research- and market-oriented interna- tional strategic alliances and cross-shareholdings among automobile pro- ducers. The wave of mergers and acquisitions in the past twenty years has led to an increasing global concentration of the automobile industry. By 2005, the ten largest company alliances (including their affiliates and wholly-owned companies) accounted for 90% of the global market with the top five accounting for 75% (The Economist 2005:63). During this pe- riod, the relentless Japanese and, more recently, South Korean competition forced the West European and U.S. auto makers to introduce new produc- tion concepts to cut production costs and maximize product and labor flexibility to make car factories lean and flexible. The goals were to free idle

Published: Mar 4, 2008

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Automobile Industry; Production Trend; Labor Flexibility; Truck Production

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