| La Lettre du GERPISA | no 117 (novembre 1997) |
Among the five books resulting from the program "Emergence of new industrial models", two should be published sometime during the first three months of 1998. Publishing contracts for One Best Way? Trajectories and Industrial Models of the World's Automobile Producers and Between Imitation and Innovation. The Transfer and Hybridization of Productive Models in the International Automobile Industry were signed this summer, and copy editing corrections should be communicated by the end of October. We also should be getting news on the other books quite soon. In an upcoming, you will find the preface which will be appearing in all the books. It describes how the first program was conceived of and carried out, and how GERPISA members partook in and contributed to the results of this program. Before the books are printed, we will publish extracts and summaries of the main ideas and conclusions discussed. In this particular issue, you may find such a summary in the "Debate" column. In the shortest and clearest manner possible, Robert Boyer and myself present the three most performant industrial models of the 1974-1992 period among generalist firms.
Discussion with Julie Froud, Colin Haslam, Sukdhev Johal and Karel Williams concerning their article "A Sector Matrix for Motoring: Changing the Area of the Visible, Increasing the Area of the Intelligible" was an important one for the second program. This text will be published in the GERPISA Acts. It is already possible to have access to it in the "Articles disponibles". The theme itself focuses on variations in the automobile market (new and second-hand, product and product service) as a function of the evolution and redistribution of national revenue. A representation matrix of value fluctuations in the automobile sector is established, wherein limits vary depending on the qualitative and quantitative evolution of demand. The second program's objective of comparing automobile markets and their determinants was consequently revisited by our colleagues. Nicolas Hatzfeld thus pinpointed a certain number of research questions, part of the column with the same name.
Jorge Carrillo, John Humphrey and Mario Salerno, soon to be in Paris for a meeting with group coordinators of "New Spaces in the automobile industry" will honor our next workshop session with their presence. They will give a talk on the theme "What do the Brazilian, Indian, and Mexican automobile industries teach us about the globalization/regionalization of the automobile world?". As you all know, GERPISA's Sixth International Colloquium will focus on the theme of "New Spaces". Workshop sessions to be held in 1997-1998 will also concentrate on this theme and, as such, serve as a preparation.
This issue of La Lettre is inaugurating a new column entitled "The Automobile Product". It's objective is to take a closer look at firm strategies through a study of new vehicle models launched on different markets by the firms. Christian Mory of the CCFA is at the origin of this welcomed initiative and will be covering it for you. He invites all GERPISA members to participate and contribute to the column, and begins this issue with an analysis of the launching of the Golf IV. In the "News from Firms" column, Etienne de Banville underlines the very rapid evolution at Renault Véhicules Industriels of an integrated production model dominant in Europe and of an assembly-type model which appears to be more prevalent in the United States. Since issue number 96, Kémal Bécirspahic has been covering major yearly information from principal automobile constructors. His useful and highly appreciated syntheses will continue to be published this year, beginning with the firm he initially reported on : Honda.