Publisher's Synopsis
The automotive industry is one of the world's largest and most truly global. Its products have deeply influenced life in the developed parts of the world, and are widely aspired to in the rest. It has had an incalculable impact on modern industrial organization. However, like all industries subject to the laws of markets, economics and competition, it is now entering the mature phase of its lifecycle. This work presents an holistic and strategic view of the industry, across time and geographies, and across its different sectors and functions.;Features of this volume include: an analysis of the social impact of the automobile, the factors that drive demand and the industry's growth, and those that will control and limit its future; a review of the supply-side structures and competitive mechanisms of the industry; an assessment of how much further the industry can grow through expansion into new markets; an examination of where the industry has come from and where it is heading; and a look at the roles of products and technology, of engineering, production, procurement, distribution and aftersales service
