Automotive Industry
Automotive restructuring, global shifts and policy responses
Editors: David Bailey, Alex de Ruyter, Jonathan Michie and Peter Tyler
It is a time of considerable restructuring in the world’s car industry and the implications of the changes occurring for individual nations and places within them is profound. In the rapidly expanding markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China there is considerable expansion of capacity with new plants being opened as markets expand on the back of rising domestic incomes. The pattern elsewhere in the traditional markets of the West is the reverse with significant contraction and even plant closure of traditional volume producers. Reducing carbon emissions will also have an impact, cutting demand for high-polluting vehicles, and requiring investment in R&D to develop new technologies and in new infrastructures to support the resulting non-polluting alternatives. It is also significant that some of the most famous and established top-of-the-range brands in the industry like Jaguar are now owned by companies based in the developing parts of the world. The economic downturn may bring further changes, including the possible merger of some of the world’s largest car companies.
This Special Issue of the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society seeks to explore the implications of these changes for the places and people that are being affected. The aim is to attract articles from leading academics, researchers and commentators from around the World to consider how best societies can adjust to these changes and what sort of policy responses may be required.