Competition in the auto sector: the impact of the interface between supply and demand

D. Garel Rhys

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2005, vol. 5, issue 3, 261-283

Abstract: In the last 20 years, so much has been written about the supply side of the motor industry; the need to reduce costs through supply change management, design for manufacture, the appropriate level of investment, and the correct systems to make best use of these features. However, this is only part of what is needed for a successful enterprise. In short, lean production and supply side factors may be a necessary condition for the establishment of a successful enterprise in the automotive industry, but the sufficient condition needs the addition of appropriate scale and on the demand side of the equation, the manufacture of products that the consumer wants. If a car company is able to use this and produce products that the market really wants then it can make profits whatever the market throws at it, and use price and non-price competition to their advantage. The current motor industry consists of very large specialist firms and huge mass producers. In short, successful marketing needs appropriate supply conditions.

Keywords: America; USA; United States; competition; consolidation; cost structures; economies of scale; Europe; European Union; globalisation; Japan; smaller firms; survival strategies; automobile industry; automotive industry; car industry; motor industry; marketing strategies; supply and demand; marketing–product supply interface. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=8221 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijatma:v:5:y:2005:i:3:p:261-283

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().