The Auto Industry and the Circular Economy: a Global South perspective

The seminar will be based on two presentations:

Prof. A Marotti de Mello, University of Sao Paulo

"Circular Business Models in Automotive Industry - The case of "Renova Ecopeças" in Brazil"

There is scarcity of research about planning, structuring and putting into practice a circular business model (CBM) in the automotive industry. In fact, most of the literature on the automotive industry focuses on exploring impacts of vehicle use (in mobility, energy usage or air pollution) and little about post-use. Regarding CBMs, several business model proposals are presented as a way of guiding decisions in different production chains (Bocken et al., 2021), but little attention is paid to the automotive industry, even if CBMs – such as “second hand” cars and parts – are increasingly important markets, especially in Global South countries.  To fill this gap, we aim to answer the following research question: how are circular business models characterized in the automotive industry? In order to achieve this goal, a systematic literature review was carried out, followed by an illustrative successful case of CBM in auto industry – Renova Ecopeças

Adriana Marotti de Mello, is associate professor at the School of Economics and Business at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Her research interests include Circular Economy, Sustainable Transitions and Technological Transformation in Automotive Industry. She is Editor in Chief of REGE (Revista de Gestão).

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Prof. H. Proff and A. Jeppe, University of Duisburg Essen

"Boosting the EV Sales by Multi-Life Strategies in the Global South"

Based on the need for decarbonization especially in the road transport sector and the regulatory environment accelerating decarbonization, it will be shown that the expected increase in electric vehicle sales alone is not sufficient to achieve the decarbonization goals. Important are also end-of-life strategies in the circular economy and here in particular multi-life strategies, which must be anchored in product development and also in corresponding multiple business models. They help to lower the entry level price of electric vehicles, especially in the global South, which is very important when purchasing power is low. The economic potentials of ecologically attractive multi-life products will be demonstrated using the example of lithium-ion batteries.

Heike Proff has a Chair in General Business Administration & International Automotive Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Duisburg, Germany. Her reseach interests are Strategic and International Management, especially the transformation of the automotive industry, including mobility ecosystems, business models and the circular economy. She is in the steering committee of Gerpisa (The International Network of the Automobile) and in the PVMI (Program on Vehicle and Mobility Innovation).