 The historical evolution of US auto firms in Mexico: two models of local developmentJorge Carrillo and Oscar Contreras International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2008, vol. 8, issue 4, 382-400 Abstract: The auto industry has led to different firm evolutionary trajectories, depending on the firm strategies and local embeddedness. Delphi has become Mexico's third-largest private employer in Mexico based on a trajectory characterised by industrial upgrading and a learning process. Delphi's process grew from simple assembly to centralised coordination of functions, including sophisticated product design, development and research. On the other hand, the evolution of Ford in Mexico since the 1980s has been characterised by a transformation from integral to modular manufacturing, that is, the increased delegation of complex production processes to the hands of first- and second-tier suppliers, which at the same time need to be close to the assembly plants and tend to be more linked to local suppliers due to the cost-reduction pressures. These two cases show us different trajectories of local development in emerging markets. Keywords: Mexican automobile industry; Delphi Mexico; Ford Hermosillo; upgrading; industrial clusters; maquiladoras; local development; automotive R&D; research and development; product design; centralised coordination; modular manufacturing; modular assembly. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijatma:v:8:y:2008:i:4:p:382-400 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.