Discuss The Impact Of Globalization On The Automobile Industry

The American automotive industry has been under a lot of pressure over recent years due to increased concern for the environment and increased global competition. An environmental scan on the American automotive industry shows that the global competition is a great cause for concern, new technology is providing an edge, emissions and laws regulating them are as tight as ever, and consumer opinion is reflecting concern for this.

“The US auto industry directly employs 1.55 million Americans and impacting a total of 7.25 million US jobs, generates $500 billion in annual compensation.” (1) With such a large industry looming in the economy, it is inevitable that it will face environmental challenges. Environmental challenges can be hard to control and are essential to the success of a company. The challenges that the auto industry must contend with are many and complex, such as; global competition, consumer opinions, and new technology, a difficult fight lies ahead.

“Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world” (The State University of New York, 2014, para 1).

In the contemporary China’s economy, it is no doubt that Auto parts Industry has become one of the fastest growing industries which plays a major role in the development of the domestic manufacture as well as the GDP Growth.

Globalization brought upon many changes to the American Automotive Industry in 1975. Increasing demand for import automobiles and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act served to be a real threat to the Ford Motor Company, American Motors, Chrysler Corporation, and General Motors. Out of these four manufacturers Chrysler was affected the worst by the industrial change, as they required a federal aid and required brand /management changes to revive themselves. Globalization formed a more competitive market in the United States during the 1970’s due to the changing emissions standards. The American Automotive Industry had to adjust to the new emissions standards from the Clean Air Act of 1970, and the fuel economy requirements of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, all while building cars that attracted to American consumers.

Several factors have affected how the American auto industry now positions itself on the world market, and big changes have been made to reflect this new direction. The introduction of new technologies in vehicles, the growing market for cars in new developing markets, the impact of the industry on the environment, legislative responses and demands, as well as the increased expectations from consumers, are some of the factors. More international cars are being designed, manufactured and bought by American consumers and exported to foreign markets today than those exclusively manufactured by American companies, redefining the American auto industry, while having a positive impact on its economy. International brands accounted for 45% of total sales in the U.S. in 2013 and have now risen to 59% of the market, and continue to grow. While the amount of American cars has decreased in the local U.S. market share to international ones, the increase of foreign car production on U.S. soil has had the effect of creating new jobs for Americans both in the auto industry as well as in related new industries. The industry has seen huge growth numbers in the last few years with more growth expected.

Akio Toyoda, the founder of the car company Toyota Incorporated, once said “Automobiles are the pinnacle of human transportation. The percentage of families across the world who own cars have reached new heights in the past decade. Multiple families now have an easier form of transportation than walking or taking an overcrowded bus. For that reason, I am happy with what I do.” Akio Toyoda is right for saying so. The usage of automobiles increases by 150% since the past decade as more consumers look towards faster and cheaper methods of transportation. The increase in usage brings many concerns to well-minded citizens, specifically concerns regarding the environment and the conservation of energy. In order to tackle the problem locally, multiple

Globalization is difficult to simply define due to the variety of changing definitions that have been established over previous decades. Hamilton and Webster (2012) suggest that globalization is the connection between nations, defining globalization as a process in which barriers are reduced in order to encourage exchanges between countries. This view proposes that globalization refers very much so to the trade barriers and the improved communications between countries in order to ensure the world is unified. Globalization increases economic activity across the world and opens up markets for foreign investment.

The following pages focus on presenting the impact of the process of globalization on the U.S. automotive industry. The Introduction presents the points of view used in addressing this subject of great economic importance. The Literature Review section discusses the most important issues established on globalization, on its effects, on the U.S. automotive industry, and on the effects of globalization on the U.S. automotive industry. The Conclusions section presents some of the most important issues addressed by the paper.

On the other hand, globalization has various definitions, which composes of many factors. First, globalization can be explained as advances in technology, such as phones, airplanes, Internet, which has made transportion and communication networks possible. This implies that people can exchange goods and services in different countries more quickly and easily. Furthermore, globalization can mean the world coming together as one. For example, a country, which produces a particular good at a lower cost, would be able to sell their products

The American Auto industry has matured over several decades and is one of the best auto industries in the world. However, like any other industry, it is fraught with many environmental challenges that include Political and Regulatory challenges, fierce global competition from other auto manufacturers, rapid advancement of technologies for powering the products in this industry, as well as challenges from stemming from consumer opinions about their products.

Just like the other industries such as apparel, electronics, and consumer goods, the automobile industry has accelerated its foreign direct investment, cross border trade and global production. The automobile industry has increased outsourcing and bundled value chain activities in major supplier chains. As a result, more developed countries that serve as suppliers have increased their involvement in trade and FDI. With these increased supplier capabilities, large national suppliers have become global suppliers and are now controlling multinational operations. This is because of their increased capability of providing good and services to various lead firms all over the world. The automotive industry has a distinct firm structure. This

In 1886 the first petrol powered automobile the Benz patent Motorwagen was invented by Karl Benz. It was the first time in history that an automobile (car) was produced in production. It was the beginning of the car industry, what today has become one of the world’s most important economic sectors by revenue. Although the car industry has always been a huge Market it has mostly be regional, the past 30 years have enabled the car market to gain growth through globalisation. These factors were a result of a market that started to transform globally: Foreign Direct Investment or (FDI) which is an investment made by a company based in one country, into a company based in a another country. Large FDI flows come from the huge amount of low-cost labour forces in Brazil, China and India, strengthening both local markets and developed countries. Furthermore global production and cross border trade have accelerated. Another change in the car market around the 1980’s was the increased outsourcing in the car market which resulted in increased trade and FDI for developed countries. Also the developing countries profited through this by increasing their

Globalization is the increasing interdependence and connectedness of the world, its businesses and it markets, as well as flow of goods, ideas, technology, people etc. This phenomenon has increased vastly over the years due to technological advances, telecommunications and internet. As the world becomes a global economy, countries have the opportunity to advance more but with the catch that there is also increased competition. Thus as it becomes more common and powerful a feature, it also has some resistance as well. (InvestorWords, n.d.)

Globalization refers to the interconnection among countries, politically, economically and culturally. Globalization has come into existence due to the following factors: (i) betterment in transportation and communication, (ii) human and capital mobility, (iii) increasing formation and existence of NGOs and multinational corporations.