CONTENTS

Key Takeaways 1

Introduction 3

Recapping Faltering U S Auto Industry Competitiveness 3

Explaining Evolving U S Auto Industry Competitiveness: 1960s to 2010 7

Overview of Auto Import and Transplant Competition in the Late 20th Century 7

Risk Aversion (and Hubris) as a Result of Oligopolistic Market Dominance 9

Bespoke U S Auto Marketplace 11

Product Life Cycle Theory 13

Flexible vs Parallel Dispersed Production Systems 14

Failing to Timely Respond to Foreign Competition 17

The Role of Management Practices and Relational Contracts With Labor and Suppliers 19

Employee Relationships 21

Supplier Relationships 22

Unable to Scale Learnings Across the Organization 23

Inferior Vehicle Quality 24

Explaining Evolving U S Auto Industry Competitiveness: 2010 to the present 24

The Rise of Mexico 25

The Emergence of China as the World’s Largest Auto Producer 30

Growth of China’s Auto Industry 30

China’s Innovation in Autos/EVs 32

The Current State of the U S Auto Industry 36

Conclusion 38

Endnotes 39