ABSTRACT
This article discusses China's industrial and labour policy for the automotive industry facing the transition to the era of new energy vehicles. A conceptual framework on the regimes of production is employed to analyse the present transformation of industry structures in production models and labour markets. The growth of private-capitalist regimes of high-performance, low wages, and high profit incentives for workers is identified, which can be described as the 'Foxconnisation' of the industry, and it is at the expense of the corporate-bureaucratic regimes prevalent among the leading Sino-foreign joint ventures. As production networks become vertically disintegrated, some non-traditional industrial players are highlighted in the discussion of some recent developments in the industry during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The profound transformation in the regimes of production brought about social contradictions related to the production process, and new challenges and implications for workplace policies. The empirical study of this article confirms the necessity of trade union strategies inside China from an international perspective in order to ensure social standards and a more sustainable green transformation of the industry.
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the COVID-era government stimulus programs for the automotive industry in France and Germany. We assess the design of the sectoral support packages and the related policymaking processes against the background of the discourse about crisis-era state aid as an instrument of economic restructuring. We place the sectoral stimulus programs in the context of changing EU-level regulations and the following three country-level characteristics: the revival of industrial policy thinking among national policymakers;the growing economic pressures in the domestic automotive sectors;and the established structures of government-industry interest intermediation. Our results suggest that in both countries, large and technologically transformative recovery programs were introduced for the automotive sector. However, both support packages had a rather structurally conservative character and were influenced by different pre-existing state-industry dynamics: the corporatist concertation in Germany and post-dirigiste state interventionism in France.
ABSTRACT
Has the COVID pandemic just been another crisis that had hit the Japanese automobile industry over the past three decades or has it been a watershed moment with respect to the shift to electric cars (EVs)? After presenting data regarding the development of Japanese industry and the evolution of policies for ecological friendly cars, the paper argues that, given that all major automobile markets and most foreign competitors are shifting towards battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the Japanese automobile producers have no choice other than abandoning conventional combustion engines including hybrid technologies and changing their strategies as well to BEVs. They do so, not because of government carbon neutral policies or out of conviction of the ecological superiority of BEVs, but just out of pure pragmatism in order to maintain their international competitiveness regarding products and production. COVID did not trigger but accelerated these developments.
ABSTRACT
The automotive industry's performance in Mexico was affected by the health and economic SARS-CoV2-crisis. As part of the complex North American supply chain, several factors influenced decision-making on crisis management. We determined the multilevel governance mechanisms to characterise the process of implementing activities. The productive performance of the industry, capacity utilisation rate per plant, employment, and foreign direct investment were evaluated. The federal government's support was scarce, although subnational governments were more sensitive to cooperate with stakeholders. Companies had to adapt to pandemic conditions and also to changes in the political and institutional environment driven by the USMCA and tensions between the USA and China. As a result, inward FDI flows and nearshoring practices are growing in the northern Mexican regions, stabilising the supply chains.
ABSTRACT
The transport sector has to be widely decarbonized by 2050 to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement. This can be performed with different drive trains and energy carriers. This paper explored four pathways to a carbon-free transport sector in Germany in 2050 with foci on electricity, hydrogen, synthetic methane, or liquid synthetic fuels. We used a transport demand model for future vehicle use and a simulation model for the determination of alternative fuel vehicle market shares. We found a large share of electric vehicles in all scenarios, even in the scenarios with a focus on other fuels. In all scenarios, the final energy consumption decreased significantly, most strongly when the focus was on electricity and almost one-third lower in primary energy demand compared with the other scenarios. A further decrease of energy demand is possible with an even faster adoption of electric vehicles, yet fuel cost then has to be even higher or electricity prices lower.
ABSTRACT
Transport automation is increasingly being studied from different perspectives;however, the perceptions of road haulage companies have received less attention. This study explores the views of representatives of small- and medium-sized road haulage companies on transport automation in Finland. We conducted an online survey to gather perceptions of automation, which received 254 responses from representatives of a range of different transport industries. The respondents’ views towards automation were generally negative. The overall view was that automation may not be possible for heavy vehicles in Finland due to the adverse weather and driving conditions. The perception was that road haulage automation is unlikely to occur before 2050 in Finland. The results provide valuable insight for vehicle manufacturers, technology developers, policy makers, and haulage companies. As the road haulage industry is dominated by small- and medium-sized companies, hauliers should be supported in actively implementing new technologies.
ABSTRACT
A modal shift to electric pedal-assisted cycles (EPACs) can help with reaching the transport emission goals of the European Green Deal. With the rising sales of EPACs in Europe, a lack of appropriate (electric) cycling infrastructure remains a major barrier for many potential users. This paper discusses the results of a survey about the requirements of (potential) cyclists to design a better cycling infrastructure. The differences in requirements for non-cyclists vs. cyclists and electric cyclists vs. conventional cyclists are discussed using statistical analysis. The key findings are that cyclists and non-cyclists both require wide quality cycling infrastructure with safe crossing points, secure bicycle parking and smart traffic lights. Non-cyclists’ requirements significantly differ from cyclists’ on 12 items, of which rain cover while cycling and parking spots for the car are the most noteworthy. There is (but) one significant difference between the requirements of EPAC users and conventional cyclists: the need for charging points for EPACs along the cycle route.
ABSTRACT
The global COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the low level of resilience of supply chains and the fragility of employment in most economic sectors. This research, which is based on two independent online surveys, explores the level of readiness of automotive firms in Mexico to adopt I4.0 technologies, as well as the mitigation strategies adopted by such firms to overcome the economic effects of COVID-19. The results indicate a low level of readiness and understanding of I4.0 technologies in the automotive parts sector in Mexico and that most of the COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been focused on workforce management strategies, rather than on technological solutions.
ABSTRACT
Canada has been characterised as a 'semi-peripheral' automotive-producing nation. This paper argues that to frame Canada only as a singular 'national' automotive industry is ill-conceived. Overwhelmingly concentrated in Ontario, Canadian automotive production forms an integral and important part of the cross-border Great Lakes automotive production region. The fortunes of automotive production in Canada are reliant, therefore, not only on 'national' policies but also on the continued vitality of the industry in this broader region and must be analysed as such. An analysis of the state of the industry in Canada stressing its integration within the Great Lakes automotive region is followed by an assessment of how the industry in the region, and especially in Ontario, might be impacted by impending challenges. These include supply chain weaknesses exposed by COVID-19, the more complex and stringent USMCA automotive rules of origin, and technological disruption associated with the transition to electric vehicles.
ABSTRACT
Electric vehicles (EVs) are gradually addressing the environmental problem in cities created by internal combustion vehicles. However, to be widely used, a major challenge will still have to be tackled. Some significant challenges are the resistance to new technologies and EVs’ purchase cost, which is significantly higher than that of internal combustion vehicles. These challenges are similar to the adoption of EVs for public transportation, such as buses and taxis. Thus, this paper proposes valuable insights into attitudes and preferences for taxi and bus users for the willingness to travel in EVs, by performing a convenience sampling, focusing especially on young users. Moreover, this study highlights the possibility of the users paying additional fees to travel in electric taxis (ETs) or electric buses (EBs). Pearson’s chi-squared analysis was also performed to validate the hypotheses.
ABSTRACT
The emergence of electric vehicles (EV) is inevitable. In Indonesia, EVs in various forms have been introduced to the market. However, the adoption of EV in the Indonesian market is still negligible. The purpose of this paper is to make an early prediction of consumers’ purchase intentions towards EV, particularly battery electric vehicles (BEV), in Indonesia. A multi-criteria decision model based on the analytic network process (ANP) approach has been proposed. There are several main criteria used to explain the purchase/don’t purchase decision towards BEV, namely functionality, emotion, cost of ownership, and car identity. Through a series of pairwise comparisons involving a number of target customers of senior level professionals, their purchase intentions towards BEV have been predicted. The results of this study show that these early wealthy, highly educated consumers have a moderate preference towards purchasing BEV. Their intention to purchase is influenced by criteria as follows: emotion (42.64%), functionality (25.94%), car identity (21.87%), and cost of ownership (9.55%). Even though the invited target customers do not represent the mass market, the findings of this study could help BEV makers in Indonesia choose who the early adopters are and find the BEV product-market fit in order to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.