Automotive Industry Research

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The response addresses the queries posted in 2343 words with references.

//Before getting to know about the impact of various economic elements on the industry, we have to be familiar with the industry structure. We should know what kind of the market structure is appropriate for the industry and the economic profile of the automotive manufacturing industry. An industry is also impacted due to various economic indicators. But, initially we will highlight the economic profile of the industry under the heading of Economic profile of the Automotive Manufacturing Industry.

Economic profile of the Automotive Manufacturing Industry:

The automotive industry is described to be as an industry which is engaged in the design, manufacture, development, marketing and sale of the motor vehicles. 69 million or more motor vehicles which consist of cars and other commercial vehicles were manufactured in the year 2006 by the automotive industry all over the world, and in the same year, 16 million new automobiles were sold in USA, 7 million in China, 15 million in the Western parts of Europe and 2 million in India, by the industry.

In the automotive industry, Alabama is considered to be as the best state or the home state for the assembly plants of Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Hyundai, and several other automaker companies have selected this state for producing the best quality engines. For example- advanced technology diesel engines were produced in this state by International Diesel. In this state, over the last 10 years, the automotive industry has created more than 35000 jobs and also invested nearly about $7 billion for the production of new automobiles. The automotive industry either directly or indirectly provides various job opportunities to the people. For example- in the state of Alabama, U.S, the industry provides approximately 44, 834 direct jobs and 79,356 indirect jobs to the workers with a payroll of $4.8 billion. In the production year of 1998, Mercedes produced 68,800 production units and in the year 2005; 47, 9465 cars and light trucks were made by the automakers in Alabama.

The US automotive industry sweeps across the national borders due to some dynamic changes. In order to be successful, these industries properly manage large and complex supply chains and pursue opportunities in varied national as well as international markets. In the US automotive market, some important changes have been taken place in the system that provides vehicles to the consumers as well as in the type of the vehicles preferred by the consumers. As a positive result of the changes, various foreign automobile firms are opening new assembly plants in the United States. There has been a dramatic increase in the supply of various types of products of automotive industry due to a shift in the preferences of the consumers. A demand for the light utility vehicle has increased worldwide in the recent years because of the change in the lifestyle of the people and also due to the increased interest of the people for both safety and performance. As compared to that of increase in the average household income in US, the new vehicle transaction prices have been increasing very rapidly which generates serious challenges in front of the industry. The distribution and retailing sector of the automotive industry which are an important source of the cost savings are passing through some remarkable changes. A shift from capital intensive operations to information-intensive operations was reflected in the industry due to the changes that had occurred in these areas as these areas represent 20 to 30 percent of the value of the new vehicles. Several Japanese and German auto manufacturing companies that operate new assembly ...