A concise 1995 review of the strengths and weaknesses of the British motor industry during the one hundred years since its foundation.

This book analyses the multinational enterprise using the example of the world motor industry. It begins by examining the multinational enterprise in general, considering its nature, the economic theory of its behaviour and is effects on the nation state. It goes on to explore the growth and development of the multinational motor industry, and then surveys the state of the motor industry, and the role of multinationals in it, in various types of economy, using case studies from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and India.

The Japanese automotive industry enjoyed spectacular success in the 1980s. This was largely due to the so-called 'Lean Production System' - the combination of an efficient production system, an effective supplier system, and a product development system. In the 1990s the industry fell on hard times because of the Japanese asset price bubble and extreme currency appreciation. In this book, eminent industry specialist Koichi Shimokawa draws on his thirty years of research and fieldwork with Japanese and American firms, to show how the Japanese automotive industry has managed to recover from this difficult period. He shows how firms like Toyota were able to transfer Japanese systems to overseas plants and how they have changed in order to compete in increasingly globalized markets. In addition, the book also addresses the two major challenges to the current industry model: the rise of China and the environmental and energy supply situation.

Offers insight into the Chinese economy through the lens of the auto industry, uses case studies to illustrate China's explosive growth over the last three decades, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of the Chinese economy.

Originally published in 1959, this book was one of the first to give a comprehensive view of the motor industry from an economic standpoint. Although the book concentrates on the UK motor industry, many references are made to that of the USA and other leading automobile manufacturers. Among the subjects discussed are the structure of the British motor industry, the demand for vehicles, the structure of costs, economies of large-scale production, the nature of competition and profits and sources of funds.

Based upon extensive fieldwork in India and Korea, this book is a detailed account of the globalization of the Korean automobile industry and Hyundai Motor Company, one of the most prominent of the new Korean multinational corporations.

As a window for understanding the relationship between globalization and the state's pursuit of national industrial development, this book examines how and why the Chinese government succeeded in leveraging China's international competitive advantages to modernize the country's automotive industry.