Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:38:49.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ownership Matters: French Governments and Automotive Industrialists Facing the Japanese Challenge, 1974–1986

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2022

Alice Milor
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Between 1974 and 1986, the intervention of various French governments on both the right and the left—in addition to corporate maneuvering and increased focus on competitiveness and lean production—resulted in foreign direct investment, mergers, plant closures, and bankruptcies among struggling French automotive suppliers. This article will explore why these efforts were unsuccessful by revisiting the first Japanese attempts to enter the European automobile industry. It does so not only through the case of Nissan in the United Kingdom in 1984 but also through the essentially unfamiliar and contemporaneous example of French automotive suppliers.

Keywords

Automotive industrysuppliersglobalizationJapanese FDIinterventionist policyliberalism
Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 96 , Issue 4 , Winter 2022 , pp. 833 - 855
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Alain Carré, interview on France-Inter radio, 5 Jan. 1991.

2 Patrick Fridenson and Kazuo Wada, “Automobiles,” in The Routledge Companion to the Makers of Global Business, ed. Teresa da Silva Lopes, Christina Lubinski, and Heidi J. S. Tworek (Abingdon, 2019), 392–409.

3 Lydie Laigle, “The Internationalisation of the French Automobile Component Industry and the Case of Valeo,” in Globalization or Regionalization of the European Car Industry?, ed. Michel Freyssenet, Koïchi Shimizu, and Giuseppe Volpato (Basingstoke, 2003), 198–222.

4 Frédérique Sachwald, Japanese Firms in Europe: A Global Perspective (Paris, 1993); Ken-ichi Ando, Japanese Multinationals in Europe: A Comparison of the Automobile and Pharmaceutical Industries (Northampton, 2005); Roger Farrell, “Globalisation of the Automotive Industry,” in Japanese Investment in the World Economy: A Study of Strategic Themes in the Internationalisation of Japanese Industry (Northampton, 2008), 286–317; Abe, Takeshi, “The ‘Japan Problem’: The Trade Conflict between the European Countries and Japan in the Last Quarter of the 20th Century,” Entreprises et histoire, no. 80 (2015): 13–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Serge Benoit, Alain Michel, and Régis Boulat, eds., Le monde du génie industriel au XXe siècle: autour de Pierre Bézier et des machines-outils (Belfort, 2015); J. Nicholas Ziegler, “Retooling the Industrial Plant: Machine Tools,” in Governing Ideas: Strategies for Innovation in France and Germany (Ithaca, 1997), 91–156.

6 Étienne de Banville and Jean-Jacques Chanaron, Vers un système automobile européen (Paris, 1991).

7 Mason, Mark, “The Origins and Evolution of Japanese Direct Investment in Europe,” Business History Review 66, no. 3 (1992): 435–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mason, “The Political Economy of Japanese Automobile Investment in Europe,” in Does Ownership Matter? Japanese Multinationals in Europe, ed. Mark Mason and Dennis Encarnation (Oxford, 1994), 411–34; Mason, Europe and the Japanese Challenge: The Regulation of Multinationals in Comparative Perspective (Oxford, 1997); Timothy Sturgeon and Richard Florida, “Globalization, Deverticalization, and Employment in the Motor Vehicle Industry,” in Locating Global Advantage: Industry Dynamics in the International Economy, ed. Martin Kenney with Richard Florida (Stanford, 2004), 52–81.

8 Henry Bernard Loewendahl, Bargaining with Multinationals: The Investment of Siemens and Nissan in North-East England (Basingstoke, 2001); Tommaso Pardi, “La Révolution qui n'a pas eu lieu: Les constructeurs japonais en Europe (1970–2010)” (PhD diss., EHESS, 2011); Hitoshi Suzuki, Japanese Investment and British Trade Unionism: Thatcher and Nissan Revisited in the Wake of Brexit (Basingstoke, 2020).

9 Roger Strange, Japanese Manufacturing Investment in Europe: Its Impact on the UK Economy (New York, 1993). About France, see Bernadette Andreosso, “The Spatial Impact of Japanese Direct Investment in France,” in Japan and the European Periphery, ed. Darby James (London, 1996), 111–31; for a broader perspective, see Fridenson, Patrick, “Japanese-French Business Encounters since 1952: Two Opposite Relations,” Entreprises et histoire, no. 80 (2015): 36–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Young-Chan Kim, Japanese Inward Investment in UK Car Manufacturing (London, 2002).

11 Michel Freyssenet, Andrew Mair, Kiochi Shimizu, and Giuseppe Volpato, eds., One Best Way? Trajectories and Industrial Models of the World's Automobile Producers (Oxford, 1998).

12 Lean production, whose goal is to operate as tightly as possible, is characterized notably by local production networks and the reduction of stock. The term “just in time” is also used to refer to this model of production.

13 Florence Descamps and Laure Quennouëlle-Corre, “1983, un tournant libéral?,” Vingtième siècle: Revue d'histoire, no. 138 (2018).

14 Ministry of Industry, Company files investigated by CIRI, 1978-1987, 19910541/1-19910541/22, French National Archives (NA). The archives consulted are those of the Ministry of Industry located at the National Archives in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine. The CIRI archives are kept at the Centre des archives économiques et financières, in Savigny-le-Temple.

15 Élie Cohen, L’État brancardier: Politiques du déclin industriel, 1974–1984 (Paris, 1989); Cohen, “Le CIRI ou l'ingénierie sociale du déclin industriel,” in Politiques industrielles d'hier et d'aujourd’hui en France et en Europe, ed. Ivan Kharaba, Anne Dalmasso, Philippe Mioche, Philippe Raulin, and Denis Woronoff (Dijon, 2009), 169–88.

16 These other archives include the following: Permanent representation of France to the European Union (RPUE), Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU), European Bureau of Consumers’ Unions (BEUC), Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA), FIEV (French Automotive Equipment Industry Federation), and French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (CCIFJ).

17 Niall Ferguson, Erez Manela, and Daniel J. Sargent, eds., The Shock of the Global: The 1970s in Perspective (Cambridge, MA, 2010).

18 Bernard Jullien and Andy Smith, eds., The EU's Government of Industries. Markets, Institutions and Politics (London, 2014); Robert Boyer, Elsie Charron, Ulrich Jürgens, and Steven Tolliday, eds., Between Imitation and Innovation: The Transfer and Hybridization of Productive Models in the International Automobile Industry (Oxford, 1988).

19 Strange, Japanese Manufacturing Investment, 216.

20 Official Journal of the French Republic, parliamentary debates, 14 Oct. 1983.

21 Bettye Hobbs Pruitt, Timken: From Missouri to Mars; A Century of Leadership in Manufacturing (Boston, 1998).

22 Michel Hau, “Les grands naufrages industriels français,” in 1974–1984, une décennie de désindustrialisation?, ed. Pierre Lamard (Paris, 2009), 19.

23 Sabina Nüesch, Voluntary Export Restraints in WTO and EU Law: Consumers, Trade Regulation and Competition Policy (Brussels, 2010).

24 John G. Glenn, China's Challenge to US Supremacy: Economic Superpower versus Rising Star (London, 2016), 68–69.

25 “New Motor Cars,” 1992, Cm 1808, Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC), BEUC.

26 Karel Williams, John Williams, and Colin Haslam, The Breakdown of Austin Rover: A Case-Study in the Failure of Business Strategy and Industrial Policy (New York, 1987); Karel Williams, Colin Haslam, Sukhdev Johal, and John Williams, Cars: Analysis, History, Cases (Providence, 1994), 134–65.

27 Chambre Syndicale des Constructeurs d'Automobile (CSCA), “À propos des déclarations protectionnistes de British Leyland [Regarding British Leyland's protectionist statements],” press release, 1976, PSA. The CSCA represented the interests of French manufacturers.

28 Frans Andriessen and Martin Bangemann, “Un grand marché intérieur de l'automobile dans un environnement ouvert [A large internal automotive market in an open environment],” 27 Apr. 1989, 25POI.2.204, RPUE.

29 Ministry of Industry, note on the Maglum case, Maglum company file, 31 Oct. 1980–1982, 19910541/13, NA. In the early 1980s, Maglum was a struggling company based in Ronchamp, in Franche-Comté, and supplied PSA.

30 Minutes from meeting between representatives from the Fédération des Travailleurs de la Métallurgie (CGT) trade union and the services of the Ministry of Industry, Maglum company file, 31 Oct. 1980, 19910541/13, NA.

31 Ministry of Industry, note on the Maglum case, Maglum company file, 31 Oct. 1980, 19910541/13, NA.

32 Serge Berstein, Pierre Milza, and Jean-Louis Bianco, eds., François Mitterrand. Les années du changement, 1981–1984 (Paris, 2019).

33 Patrick Fridenson, “Stratégies des groupes automobiles et structures du marché en Europe 1979–1992,” in Milieux économiques et intégration européenne au XXe siècle: La relance des années quatre-vingt (1979–1992), ed. Éric Bussière, Michel Dumoulin, and Sylvain Schirmann (Paris, 2007), 333–47.

34 District Council for Seine-Saint-Denis to Laurent Fabius, Letter to the Minister for Industry and Research, Constructions de Clichy company file, 17 May 1984, 19910541/6, NA.

35 Jeanvoine, Luc, “Le dépérissement de l'usine de Graffenstaden,” Entreprises et histoire, no. 27 (2001): 44–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

36 Laure Quennouëlle-Corre, “Paribas et le monde: Les enjeux de la nationalisation de 1982,” in Banque et société XIXe–XXIe siècle: Identités croisées, ed. Florence Descamps, Roger Nougaret, and Laure Quennouëlle-Corre (Bruxelles, 2016), 97–117.

37 Mason, “Origins and Evolution,” 455–56, 464.

38 Masanori Hanada, “Nissan: Restructuring to Regain Competitiveness,” and Andrew Mair, “The Globalization of Honda's Product-Led Flexible Mass Production System,” in Freyssenet et al., One Best Way?; Lung, Yannick and Bélis-Bergouignan, Marie-Claude, “Le mythe de la variété originelle: L'internationalisation dans la trajectoire du modèle productif japonais,” Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales 49 (1994): 541–67Google Scholar; Tommaso Pardi, “A Model to Follow? The Impact of Neoliberal Policies on the British Automobile Market and Industry,” in Global Automobile Demand, ed. Bruno Jetin (London, 2015), 97–71.

39 Strange, Japanese Manufacturing Investment, 216.

40 The Sabatini Law (1965) encouraged the takeover of machine tool manufacturers by deferring payment up to five years and offered genuine support to Italian MSB networks. On Japanese FDI in Italy, see Corrado Molteni, “Japanese Manufacturing Investment in Italy,” in Japan and the European Periphery, ed. Darby James (London, 1996), 132–48.

41 Colin Haslam and Karel Williams, “Learning from Japan: The Yeast for Britain's Manufacturing Regeneration?,” in Japan and the European Periphery, ed. Darby James (London, 1996), 69–85; Hiroshi Kumon and Tetsuo Abo, eds., The Hybrid Factory in Europe: The Japanese Management and Production System Transferred (New York, 2004).

42 Prefect for the Allier Department to the Minister for Industry and Research, HES company file, June 1984, 19910541/8, NA.

43 Minebea to the Ministry of Industry, Nadella company file, 9 May 1983, 19910541/15, NA.

44 Hiroshi Shimizu, “Rise of Minebea as a Global Firm,” in Japanese Firms in Contemporary Singapore (Singapore, 2008), 88–108.

45 Loubet, Jean-Louis, “L'industrie automobile française d'une crise à l'autre,” Vingtième siècle: Revue d'histoire, no. 52 (1996): 73Google Scholar; Gilodi, Arthur, “Renault et les méthodes japonaises,” Renault Histoire, no. 32, (2015): 19Google Scholar.

46 Nicolas Hatzfeld, Les gens d'usine: 50 ans d'histoire à Peugeot-Sochaux (Paris, 2002), 489.

47 Pesqueux, Yvon and Tyberghein, Jean-Pierre, “L’école japonaise d'organisation,” Innovations 31 (2010): 11–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kumon and Abo, Hybrid Factory; Freyssenet et al., One Best Way?; Boyer et al., Between Imitation and Innovation; Martin Kenney and Richard Florida, Beyond Mass Production: The Japanese System and Its Transfer to the U.S. (Oxford, 1993).

48 Ministry of Industry, note on Jaeger, 18 June 1981, 19910541/11, NA. On this subject, see James P. Womack, Daniel Jones, and Daniel Roos, The Machine That Changed the World (New York, 1990).

49 Chanaron, Jean-Jacques, “Rapport du M.I.T.: Comparer ce qui est comparable,” Journal de l'Automobile, no. 328 (1991): 18–25Google Scholar; Williams, Karel, Haslam, Colin, Williams, John, Cultler, Tony, Adcroft, Andy, and Johal, Sukhdev, “Against Lean Production,” Economy and Society 21, no. 3 (1992): 321–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Christian Berggren, Alternatives to Lean Production: Work Organization in the Swedish Auto Industry (Ithaca, 1992); Jean-Philippe Neuville, Le modèle japonais à l’épreuve des faits (Paris, 1997).

50 FIEV president to the European Commission, 1 Feb. 1993, FIEV.

51 Ministry of Industry, Jaeger company file, note, 18 June 1981, 19910541/11, NA.

52 Lyddon, Dave, “The Myth of Mass Production and the Mass Production of Myth,” Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 1 (1996): 77–105CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dan Coffey, The Myth of Japanese Efficiency: The World Car Industry in a Globalizing Age (Cheltenham, 2006).

53 CCIFJ, “Japon: images et réalités,” France Eco Japon, no. 21 (1984): 7, CCIFJ.

54 Minutes from meeting at the Ministry of Industry, 9 Oct. 1982, PSA.

55 Libération, 15 Sep. 1984.

56 Le Figaro, 12 Oct. 1984.

57 Ministry of Industry, Nadella company file, note, 4 July 1983, 19910541/15, NA.

58 Ministry of Industry, HES company file, note, Spring 1984, 19910541/8, NA.

59 Alain Faucon, “L'approche des affaires en difficulté par le CIASI,” Gestion et technique bancaires, no. 413 (1982): 63–73.

60 Claude Beaud, “Le drame de Creusot-Loire: Echec industriel ou fiasco politico-financier?,” Entreprises et histoire, no. 27 (2001): 7–22.

61 Georges Saunier, “De la Communauté à l'Union européenne: L'action européenne de François Mitterrand (1981–1995),” Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre temps, no. 101–2 (2011): 20–28.

62 Les Échos, 14 Sep. 1984.

63 Jacques Calvet, statements made at press conference at Frankfurt Motor Show, 13 Sep. 1989, PSA.

64 Le Monde, 15 Sep. 1984.

65 Le Figaro, 12 Oct. 1984.

66 Libération, 15 Sep. 1984.

67 Le Figaro, 12 Oct. 1984.

68 Minutes from an interministerial meeting, HES company file, Sep. 1984, 19910541/8, NA.

69 Hau, “Les grands naufrages industriels,” 15–35.

70 Descamps and Quennouëlle-Corre, “1983, un tournant libéral?”

71 Laurent Warlouzet, Governing Europe in a Globalizing World: Neoliberalism and Its Alternatives following the 1973 Oil Crisis (New York, 2018), 165. The author identifies a break in Mitterrand's policy in March 1984 and revisits the decline of state aid in 1985–1986.

72 Minutes from an interministerial meeting, HES company file, 19 Oct. 1984, 19910541/8, NA.

73 Minutes from an interministerial meeting, HES company file, 3 Dec. 1984, 19910541/8, NA.

74 Jean-Charles Leygues, note, Dec. 1990, HAEU.

75 Strange, Japanese Manufacturing Investment, 216. See also Thomas Bourke, Japan and the Globalisation of European Integration (Aldershot, 1996).

76 Pardi, Tommaso, “Crise et rejet de la greffe Toyota à Valenciennes?,” Le journal de l’école de Paris du management 99 (2013): 29–36Google Scholar.

77 Marie-Claude Bélis-Bergouignan, Bernard Jullien, Yannick Lung, and Murat Yildizoglu, eds., Industrie, innovation, institution: Eléments de dynamique industrielle (Bordeaux, 2011).

78 Bruno Amable, Structural Crisis and Institutional Change in Modern Capitalism: French Capitalism in Transition (Oxford, 2017).

79 Mason, Europe and the Japanese Challenge.

80 Christian Sautter, La France au miroir du Japon: Croissance ou déclin (Paris, 1996). This high-ranking civil servant and professor of Japanese economics at a Paris research university (EHESS) wrote the following: “the sharpest division opposed France and Great Britain. The first refused with horror the transplants that were the logical consequence of barriers to entry, whereas the second, spurred on by Mrs. Thatcher, who apparently had little confidence in the capacities of British entrepreneurs, welcomed them with open arms.”

81 Warlouzet, Governing Europe.

82 Gorgeu, Armelle and Mathieu, René, “Les liens de Renault avec ses fournisseurs: Equipementiers et sous-traitants,” Actes du Gerpisa 14 (1995): 41–58Google Scholar.

83 Fridenson and Wada, “Automobiles,” 398.

84 Pruitt, Timken. On the United States, see Laurie Graham, “How Does the Japanese Model Transfer to the United States? A View from the Line,” in Global Japanization? The Transnational Transformation of the Labour Process, ed. Tony Elger and Chris Smith (London, 1994), 123–151.

85 Johannes Bähr and Paul Erker, Bosch: History of a Global Enterprise (Munich, 2015).

86 Pardi, Tommaso, “Industrial Policy and the British Automotive Industry under Margaret Thatcher,” Business History 59, no. 1 (2017): 75–100CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

87 Harold Nockolds, Lucas: The First Hundred Years, 2 vols. (Newton Abbot, 1976–1978). Paul Cheeseright, Lucas: The Sunset Years (London, 2005).

88 Christian Polak, 1918–2018, Un siècle d'histoires d'entreprises au Japon (Tokyo, 2018).