Environmental Challenges Facing The American Auto Industry

The automotive industry in the United States began in the 1890s and rapidly evolved into the largest in the world. However, the United States was overtaken as the largest automobile producer by Japan in the 1980s, and subsequently by China in 2008 ( "2013 production statistics".). The U.S. is currently second among the largest manufacturer in the world by volume, with approximately 8-10 million automobiles manufactured annually (World Motor Vehicle Data 2007). General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, all based in Metro Detroit dominated the automobile industry.

the world. " The Big Three" hold nearly 75% of the market and produce over 8

Introduction Automobile usage has increased in America and elsewhere in the world. In a research done by Sutherland, J., et al. (2004) “The US has a contributed to 200 million passengers in cars and light truck over the past few years. Further in 1990, studies showed that US cars increased six times faster than human population. The leaders in the automotive industry must adopt some key elements to ensure success in this fast-moving environment. They must invest in knowing their markets, building brands, adapting product strategies and taking long-term view on their goals and objectives. This paper outlines some of the key factors which should be considered. Environmental factors automotive designers and engineers have always said the main threats in the American Automotive industry are the environmental factors such as fuel economy and the clean air regulations. Automotive Emission posed different problems than manufacturing discharges such as coal smoke. Increased fossil-fuel emission has resulted from the million car increase. Irritation smog, which is comprised of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxide and other various chemical mixtures are cited in major cities such as Los Angeles. These auto emissions are also said to cause headaches, visual pollutions, contribute to lung cancers and other respiratory disease. In the end, the engineers have designed cars that are better environmental performers, cost effective and fuel efficient to reduce the environmental

Automobiles create many problems for the environment and the government. Pollution is created from cars, and people are dying from cancer and heart

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.

The American Auto Industry, in the form of vehicles it produces, account for almost one-fifth of emissions in the United States. Subtracting emissions created from production,

General Motors was the world’s largest automaker and since 1931, the world’s sales leader. In 2000, it had a net income of $4.4 billion on revenues of $184.6 billion. North America represented the majority of sales to end customers but international operations were also growing and international sales had reached 18% of overall sales.

Competitive Rivalry. Highly competitive industries generally earn low returns because the cost of competition is high. The auto industry is considered to be an oligopoly, which helps to minimize the effects of price-based competition. The automakers understand that price-based competition does not necessarily lead to increases in the size of the marketplace; historically they have tried to avoid price-based competition, but more recently the competition has

The use of automobiles has since increased in the US and other parts of the world. By 1999, the US alone had over 200 million passenger cars and light trucks. The number of cars worldwide grew thrice faster than the human population. The increase in the number of automobiles has become a matter of great concern as it leads to serious air pollution. For instance, European Environment Agency reported that transportation emission presents a huge threat to the environment.

Throughout the 20th century, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have held a firm grip on the U.S. car market. GM even was even able to control 50% of the market until about 1980. Ford and Chrysler also did considerable well during that period. However, globalization allowed foreign carmakers to maneuver their way into the U.S. market. Intensified competition then began to threaten the market shares of those leading companies. German companies entered the market with cars like Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW. They now currently own Porsche and Audi. The Japanese car industry have the luxury of owning cars such as the Honda, Toyota, and Nissan while Koreans have joined the market with

Global competition brought about less market share for U.S. automobile manufacturers and threatened company profits as more foreign car brands entered the U.S. market. The total market share of General Motors fell from 28.2% in 2000 to 17.6% by 2014. The other two of the Big Three car manufacturers also lost U.S. market share during this same period. Ford fell from 24.1% to 14.7%. Fiat-owned Chrysler now holds only 12.7% after having 15.7% of the market in 2000.

Investopedia, the American auto industry has struggled to keep U.S market shares higher than they were

Over the years, the U. S. auto industry's market has been experiencing fluctuations due to many reasons including: price, quality and foreign competition. General Motors Corporation (GM) which had been the leading car and truck manufacturer had been experiencing declining market share and facing stiff competition from both U.S manufacturers and foreign imports such as the Asian auto producers that included Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The main reason for increased foreign competition was that foreign cars were more fuel efficient, smaller, less expensive, and often more reliable than their American counterparts.

The United States Automotive industry has been dominated by five major auto manufacturers: GM, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, and Honda. As globalization increases the domestic automotive market (GM, Ford, Chrysler) suffers from foreign competitors. Although with high entrance barriers the market suffers little to none from new entries. There are several reasons for this the largest being capital. It takes a lot of capital to obtain manufacturing plants, raw materials, as well as to hire and train employees. PASTEL Analysis

GM was the largest automakers in the world for more than 70 years. It produced more than half vehicles in USA market 50 years ago. But it fell down to less 20% in 2009.it was caused by a series missteps.