GERPISA’s sixth international programme, on the New Frontiers of the Automobile Industry, considered the transition between the old and new paradigm of the automobile and mobility as a long and complex phenomenon, occurring despite the "disruptive" rhetoric that accompanies it. The electrification of the fleet, the development of the connected and autonomous vehicle, and the rise of shared mobility will take at best more than a decade to assert themselves and to sustainably transform transport and automobile production/sales systems. Looking at the future implies a reflection on the long-term coexistence of the two paradigms and on the complex interactions between technological, economic, political and social conditions that could advance, delay or even partly reverse the transition between the two. The inherent tensions between the increasing restructuring of a capital-intensive auto industry and the expected demands on labour reorganisation on a global scale further compound the transition process. Within this complex scenario, there is also the substantial uncertainty caused by the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, which will undoubtedly have a significant impact on all these developments.
 
The new international programme aims to study these transformations, as well as the forms of coexistence between the old and new paradigms, through the prism of digitalisation, which is asserting itself as the main accelerator in the transitions underway. Launching this new programme, the 29th International Colloquium of Gerpisa focuses on “the transformations of the Global Auto Industry: Digitalisation, Ecological Transition and the impact of the COVID-19 Crisis”.