Time for a Model Change: Re-engineering the Global Automotive Industry [Hardcover]

Graeme P. Maxton (Author), John Wormald (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521837154 | ISBN-13: 978-0521837156 | Publication Date: December 6, 2004

The automotive industry ranks among the most significant business phenomena of the 20th century and remains vitally important today, accounting for almost 11% of the GDP of North America, Europe and Japan and one in nine jobs. Although its products have had a fundamental impact on modern society in economic and social terms, the industry has found it hard to adjust to contemporary conditions and is thus no longer esteemed in capital markets. Riven with internal contradictions that inhibit reform, it now faces a stark choice between years of strife or radical change. Highlighting the challenges and opportunities that exist for managers, legislators, financial institutions and potential industry entrants, this book is a wake-up call for those who work in the automotive industry. Most of all, it gives us all cause to reflect on the value of mobility, today and tomorrow. Graeme Maxton is director of AutoPolis, a firm that specializes in the structures and dynamics of the world automotive industry and helps clients position themselves for profitable growth. He is responsible for its activities in Asia and since 1992, has been closely affiliated with the Economist Newspaper Group and chairs all of The Economist's automotive industry conferences throughout the world. He writes for Business China, Business Asia, and various other Group publications, as well as for numerous newspapers throughout Europe and Asia. He is also a television, radio, and press commentator on the industry. Maxton and Wormald were co-authors of Driving Over a Cliff? Business Lessons from the World's Car Industry (Addison Wesley, 1994), which was nominated for the Financial Times Best Book about Business Award. John Wormald is a director and co-founder of Autopolis. He has worked in and for the automotive industry for over 25 years. He advises vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, distribution and service companies, and financial and government institutions, with a particular emphasis on the downstream distribution and service sectors of the industry. He regularly lectures about the industry, speaks at industry conferences, writes for automotive and general publications, and is quoted and interviewed in the media. He is a co-author of Driving Over a Cliff?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The automobile industry is so large and so important that it impacts global politics as well as the global economy. Wormald and Maxton provide an iconoclastic analysis of this industry that is provocative, timely, and well-researched. The warnings they give to the leaders of this industry and the politicians seeking to regulate it need to be taken seriously." Lee Branstetter, Daniel Stanton Associate Profesor of Business, Columbia Business School

"...poses some fundamental questions about the continuing validity of the economic model that drives the automobile industry. No vehicle manufacturer can afford to ignore the issues that Wormald and Maxton identify." Anthony Millington, Director General, European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Tokyo Office

"...a powerful diagnosis and an imaginative blueprint for reform. The industry and everyone who depends on it would do well to take notice." Professor Geoffrey Owen, London School of Economics

"A must read for everyone associated or interested in the auto industry, with important lessons for all auto companies, especially in the emerging markets with aspirations of becoming regional or global players." Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons

"...valuable reading for anyone either engaged in or observing this huge industry. Let us hope that this book will be a catalyst to develop new ideas to move toward a new model for an exciting and more productive new direction." Richard Best, GKN Driveline

"...provocative, timely, and well-researched. The warnings they give to the leaders of this industry and the politicians seeking to regulate it need to be taken seriously." Lee Branstetter, Daniel Stanton Associate Profesor of Business, Columbia Business School

"I found the book a stimulating and thought-provoking read, even for (especially for) an industry insider. It is most unusual for the generally unappreciated downstream end of the automotive business to be even considered within an analysis of the industry, let alone be recognized as the real driver of industry profitability. The aftermarket, in particular, remains a sprawling, fragmented industry, primitive by the standards of modern retailing. The authors suggest some of the opportunities that could be realised from the rationalisation of this sector." John McCormack, Vice-President European Aftermarket, Federal-Mogul

Book Description

This book is about a great industry that affects us all, detailing its development and how it works today, what it contributes to society and what it costs. The authors make wide-ranging recommendations for changes which must be made within the industry, both to safeguard future prosperity and to satisfy its many stakeholders. Taking a holistic view rather than a single-issue approach, and enjoying privileged access to data from the best-known firms, the book offers new and practical insights into the future of this vital yet often embattled business.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (December 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521837154
• ISBN-13: 978-0521837156
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #640,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lays out the woes of the modern auto industry, and gives possible solutions, February 9, 2007

By 

Edward Durney (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time for a Model Change: Re-engineering the Global Automotive Industry (Hardcover)

In Time for a Model Change, two industry veterans tell why the modern auto industry is in such sad shape. As the globe warms and oil is burned up, we need innovative cars that push the envelope with new technologies, such as plug-in hybrids and electrics.

Yet the carmakers struggle to stay afloat, with no money to spend on such a drastic model change. And no strategic plan to follow even if they had the money. So instead of innovation, we get a steady proliferation of the same old models, with minor variations, all of the carmakers putting out their "me too" offerings that drive up expenses, drive down sale prices, and drive the carmakers out of business.

Time for a Model Change suggests a solution. Unbundle the production of cars. Let the carmakers build to their strengths. Italian carmakers, for example, should not try to compete with their own vertically integrated line of cars. Instead, focus on car bodies, doing the styling that they can do better than others. And so on.

Reflecting their connection with The Economist magazine, the authors of Time for a Model Change make their case thoughtfully and carefully. The many graphs, diagrams, and pictures (black and white only) throughout the book add a great deal to a reader's understanding of the industry. This book, though quite sophisticated in its analysis, will not be too difficult for the general reader.

My only complaint about the book, if I even call it that, is the feeling of doom and gloom that pervades it. Things are not that bad. But there is no question that the "industry of industries" will be changing, one way or another. As related technologies continue to improve, someone is going to figure out how to make money in this huge industry.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Industry With a Difficult Future, February 3, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Time for a Model Change: Re-engineering the Global Automotive Industry (Hardcover)

This is an analysis of the world wide automobile industry by a pair of close observers who are outside the direct employment of the auto makers.

The auto industry is huge, it's been developing for a hundred. In addition there is a huge supplementary industry in the form of supplying oil, building highways, insuring, repairing, racing, and hundreds of other professions.

The problems forseen by the authors seem so obvious that you wonder why the automoile companies don't see it. Of course they probably do, but their senior management couldn't say anything that might affect their stock prices. If they did, they would get sued by everyone who lost money on their stock.

This is an excellent book on the automotive industry and in effect on our whole economy.

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, May 12, 2008

By 

A. Moemeka - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Time for a Model Change: Re-engineering the Global Automotive Industry (Hardcover)

This book is for anyone who has a true interest in the history of automobiles and in strategic thinking on how to improve the industry. There is a generous review of the sales and service sector.