This paper considers how recent tendencies in automotive production have affected suppliers in the European periphery. Assembly-firm strategies and the consequent reactions of component suppliers are analysed. Demands from the former have led to the emergence of oligopolies in the production of more complex systems. The effects of this productive reorganization on European periphery suppliers are explored with reference to the case of Spain.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aláez, R., Bilbao, J., Camino, V. and Longás, J.C. (1996) El sector de automoción: nuevas tendencias en la organización productiva. Madrid: Civitas.
2.
Amin, A.
and Smith, I. (1991) ‘Vertical Integration or Disintegration? The Case of the UK Car Parts Industry’, in C. Law (ed.) Restructuring the Automobile Industry: National and Regional Impacts, pp. 169-199. London: Routledge.
3.
Asanuma, B.
(1989) ‘Manufacturer-Supplier Relationships in Japan and the Concept of Relation-specific Skill’, Journal of Japanese and International Economies3: 1-30.
4.
Bordenave, G.
and Lung, Y. (1996) ‘New Spatial Configurations in the European Automobile Industry’, European Urban and Regional Studies3: 305-321.
5.
Freyssenet, M.
and Lung, Y. (1996) ‘Between Globalization and Regionalization: What Future for the Automobile Industry?’, Actes du Gerpisa18: 39-68.
6.
Fujimoto, T.
(1995) ‘A Note on the Origin of the “Black Box Parts” Practice in the Japanese Motor Vehicle Industry’, in H. Shiomi (ed.) Fordism Transformed, pp. 184-218. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7.
Kamien, M.I.
and Schwartz, N.L. (1982) Market Structure and Innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8.
Lagendijk, A.
(1995) ‘The Foreign Takeover of the Spanish Automobile Industry: a Growth Analysis of Internationalization’, Regional Studies29 (4): 381-393.
9.
Lamming, R.
(1993) Beyond Partnership. Strategies for Innovation and Lean Supply. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall.
10.
OECD (1981) La mesure des activités scientifiques et techniques. Manuel de Frascati. Paris: OECD.
11.
Sadler, D.
(1998) ‘Changing Inter-firm Relations in the European Automotive Industry: Increased Dependence or Enhanced Autonomy for Components Producers?’, European Urban and Regional Studies5 (4): 317-328.
12.
Sadler, D.
(1999) ‘Internationalisation and Specialisation in the European Automotive Components Sector: Implications for the Hollowing-out Thesis’, Regional Studies33: (forthcoming).
13.
Sadler, D.
and Amin, A. (1995) ‘“Europeanisation” in the Automotive Components Sector and its Implications for State and Locality’, in R. Hudson and E.W. Schamp (eds) Towards a New Map of Automobile Manufacturing in Europe?, pp. 39-61. Berlin: Springer.
14.
Schamp, E.W.
(1995) ‘The German Automobile Production System Going European’, in R. Hudson and E.W. Schamp (eds) Towards a New Map of Automobile Manufacturing in Europe?, pp. 93-116. Berlin: Springer.
15.
Utterback, J.M.
(1994) Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
16.
Vickery, G.
(1996) ‘Globalisation in the Automobile Industry’, in Globalisation of Industry, Overview and Sector Reports. Paris: OECD.
17.
Wells, P.
and Rawlinson, M. (1994) The New European Automobile Industry. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
