The Automotive Industry in an Era of Eco-Austerity: Creating an Industry As If the Planet Mattered

The Automotive Industry in an Era of Eco-Austerity analyses the future prospects of the largest manufacturing sector in the world, the automotive industry, at a time of unprecedented global financial crisis and unrelenting environmental pressure. This unique book seeks to combine economic analysis with the environmental research to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the forces that shape change in the automotive industry. It eschews the usual focus on technologies, and gives more attention to the impact of change on the business models and strategies adopted by the vehicle manufacturers, the scope for new entrants, and the implications for policy-makers. This richly textured book concludes that the achievement of a sustainable automotive industry will not be possible with ‘one best way’, but that myriad technologies and business concepts, grounded in the distinct needs of different places and consumers, will be the basis of the future of mobility. Drawing on a wealth of industry data by virtue of the authors’ record of many years researching the industry, this book will be invaluable to both students and researchers working within transport, industrial ecology, automobility, industrial policy, economics, regional development, sustainability, technology, and business models.