Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Foreword by G. Fredric Bolling
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Introduction
- 1 From automania to maturity – in the main markets at least
- 2 The problems that can be fixed – dealing with noxious emissions, traffic accidents and congestion
- 3 The global resource challenges – energy and global warming
- 4 A global industry and the changing international order
- 5 The supplier industry – the catalyst for the profound changes to come?
- 6 The downstream sales and service sector
- 7 When the labels do not add up
- 8 Choosing a future for the automotive industry
- 9 Time for a model change
- Index
8 - Choosing a future for the automotive industry
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Foreword by G. Fredric Bolling
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Introduction
- 1 From automania to maturity – in the main markets at least
- 2 The problems that can be fixed – dealing with noxious emissions, traffic accidents and congestion
- 3 The global resource challenges – energy and global warming
- 4 A global industry and the changing international order
- 5 The supplier industry – the catalyst for the profound changes to come?
- 6 The downstream sales and service sector
- 7 When the labels do not add up
- 8 Choosing a future for the automotive industry
- 9 Time for a model change
- Index
Summary
If nothing changes – Graceless degradation
In this book we have systematically reviewed many of the different facets of the world's auto industry, looking at the sector not as a business but as an ‘economic phenomenon’. We wanted to look at the industry as a business too, of course, but also at the car as a source of mobility, at the industry's impact within society as a whole, and at the auto sector in a much more holistic way than has been done before.
Where does it take us?
The answer is inevitably mixed. On the positive side, there is the increase in mobility the car has brought us: a colossal economic and social benefit for mankind. On the positive side, too, the industry has done much to address the environmental damage it once caused. Although there are still pollutants from cars, and the volume of carbon dioxide emissions is still rising, the damage vehicles cause through other emissions has been dramatically reduced and will fall much further in the years to come. This has been the result of much effort by the industry and by governments. Cars are also safer, and although the number of road deaths has risen substantially, much of this is a result of a lack of economic development – that is, it is a tragic phenomenon facing the developing world but also one that will eventually be fixed.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Time for a Model ChangeRe-engineering the Global Automotive Industry, pp. 245 - 256Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004