Buying time and ideas

摘要

The single biggest issue facing the automotive industry worldwide at present is probably not the environmental one that seems to be the subject of every second announcement. It's the economic one: the overcapacity in the industry that shows little sign of being eliminated. For every Ford or General Motors unit of capacity that is being removed, bravely, painfully but belatedly, from the rollcall of world vehicle making there is a compensating gain in capacity somewhere else: very possibly in China, India or Eastern Europe. Overcapacity in the industry seems to be endemic and while there are potential new markets to exploit and competitive advantages to be won and lost there appears little prospect of any real change. Movement, yes; change, no.