Executive Summary
The global automotive industry, increasingly characterized by global mergers and
relocation of production centers to emerging developing economies, is in the grips of a
global price-war. The industry is subject to imperfect competition which has resulted in
too much of everything — too much capacity, too many competitors and too much
redundancy and overlap. The industry is concerned with consumer demands for styling,
safety, and comfort; and with labor relations and manufacturing efficiency. In this
context, the study examines the growth patterns, changes in ownership structures, trade
patterns and role of governments of selected Asian countries (viz. China, India, Indonesia
and Thailand) in the automobile sector.
Thailand is a major automobile exporting country from Asia. The sector is mainly
driven by Japanese FDI. Chinese automobile sector is growing very fast and is poised to
make its dent in the international trade arena very soon, with a particularly strong
position in the component sector. India, on the other hand, is consolidating its position
with strong domestic and external demand. The Indonesian automotive industry is
essentially an assembly industry dominated by the major Japanese car manufacturers, but
also increasing its exports.
The developing countries studied are making efforts to develop their automobile
sector through different paths with direct and indirect influence of government through
innovative policies and trade liberalization programmes. Government policies towards
investment liberalisation brought significant benefits to the selected countries as private
players stepped in with modern technology and FDI started pouring in mainly through the
hands of Japanese automobile majors.
Different countries adopted different policies to handle the overcapacity problem
in the sector. Chinese has promoted consolidation of the industry through mergers and
acquisition while Indians sought overseas market. In both these countries, government
policies have been towards development of the indigenous automobile sector through
strengthening the national players while Thailand focused entirely on the export market
through Japanese companies. Domestic players in Indonesia remained as partners to
MNCs in assembling activities.
Protection in automobile sector earlier was mainly through high tariffs, import
bans on Completely Build Units (CBU), local content use condition, and restriction on
private investment and other regulatory restrictions. Protection in component sector did
not work well in general as it helped only the basic components sector to grow
domestically in these countries, with most of the critical components still being imported.
Thailand has aimed to plug the gaps in the component sector through a focused
investment promotion scheme. India is also making an effort to develop indigenous
component sector through giving focus in R&D and tightening the IPR regime and
thereby inviting big players to step in the critical component sector leaving the basic
components in the hands of SMEs. China, on the contrary, is increasing its comparative
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advantage in the basic component sector through further reduction in cost. For vehicles, it
is still focusing on the consolidation of the domestic sectors and improving the
technological as well as managerial capabilities of the sector in general.
Specialization in automobile sector is increasingly becoming segment specific as
each of these countries is finding its niche. China is specalising in components, India in
two wheelers and small vehicles, Thailand in pick-up trucks and passenger cars and
Indonesia in utility vehicles. Thailand is exporting to developed countries and
strengthening its position in ASEAN. Indonesia is also increasing its trade relation with
ASEAN. India is concentrating on Middle East and south Asia beside traditional
developed country destinations. With the gradual opening up of the component sector,
now the challenge is for individual governments to support the development of domestic
critical component and sub-system suppliers through, interalia, improvement in the
investment environment, stronger patent regimes and incentives for R&D.

Table of Content
I. Introduction.............................................................................................. 4
II. Changing Structure of Global Automobile Industry: ............................. 5
II. I Growth of Automobile industry:....................................................... 5
II. II. Economics of Automobile Industry: .............................................. 8
II.II.I Production:.................................................................................. 9
II.II.II Supply Chain: .......................................................................... 10
II.II.III Pricing: ................................................................................... 12
II.II.IV International Trade:................................................................ 14
III. Methodology: ...................................................................................... 16
IV. Brief Review of Automobile Industry Growth in Selected Countries 18
IV.I China: ............................................................................................. 18
IV.II India: ............................................................................................. 18
IV.IV Indonesia: .................................................................................... 19
IV.III Thailand: ...................................................................................... 20
V. Production and Market Structure: ........................................................ 20
V.I: China............................................................................................... 21
V.II: India............................................................................................... 22
V.IV: Indonesia...................................................................................... 24
V.III: Thailand ....................................................................................... 26
VI. Dynamics of Trade.............................................................................. 28
VI. I China’s automobile Trade ............................................................. 29
VI.II India’s automobile Trade .............................................................. 31
VI.III Indonesia’s automobile Trade ..................................................... 33
VI.III Thailand’s automobile Trade....................................................... 35
VII. Tax and Tariff Structure: ................................................................... 36
VIII. Epilogue............................................................................................ 38
VIII.I: Comparison of Policy Framework ............................................. 38
VIII. II Focusing more on Trade............................................................ 40
VIII. III: Identifying Niches and Future Challenge ............................... 41
References ................................................................................................. 44
Appendix – HS Codes Relevant to Automotive Sector ............................ 46

[此贴子已经被作者于2007-8-30 9:35:29编辑过]