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This paper aims to analyze whether the domestic policy reforms in India would suffice, or there is a need to conform to stricter international standards as well. The paper is arranged along the following lines. First, the paper offers a brief review of the cooperation in the field of harmonization of vehicle regulations which is provided by the so-called WP.29 Forum. Second, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards and their membership along with Indian participation in the forum are presented. Third, reforms in India through the “Make in India” (MII) initiative and its trade in the auto-component segment are analyzed. Fourth, the possible non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on imports of auto-components in select partner countries is computed and presented. Fifth, the penetration pattern of partner countries in India’s automotive sector export value chain is analyzed. Finally, based on the observations, key policy conclusions are drawn both from global and Indian perspectives.

This paper blends expertise in law and economics and enables readers to have a finer understanding of the automotive sector which is one of the most internationalized product groups in world trade, characterized by not only cross-border movement of final products, but also of intermediate products like auto-parts and components as well as major global investment and relocation decisions. This paper focuses on India for four crucial reasons, which makes India both a key player (and potential disruptor) at global level and the rather complex approach chosen by the country vis-a-vis many regulations (including UNECE and WTO), reflecting its tendency to rely on domestic consolidation through measures such as the 2014 MII initiative.

The data analysis in the current paper indicates that after conforming to the UNECE 1998 standard, India’s relative trade with these countries has increased both in terms of auto-components and automobile products. Moreover, the value contribution from these partner countries in India’s exports is rising. On the other hand, the relative share of the UNECE 1958 countries in India’s trade basket has declined and a mixed trend is noticed for the common contracting parties (CPs). In addition, the share of the countries without accession to any of the UNECE agreements in India’s trade has shown an upward trend. The observation indicates that the divergence in automotive product standards might crucially influence India’s trade flows. It seems that in the short run, an orientation for exporting to UNECE 1998 partners and non-members emerges as a dominant strategy, underlining a specialization in medium-quality segment. Nevertheless, the long-term robustness of such a move deserves closer analysis, particularly by focusing on whether India may need to join the UNECE 1958 agreement to sustain its export growth. Before joining UNECE 1998, the sector has enjoyed protection through high tariff barriers. Given the differing perspective on opening-up, automobile sector earlier emerged as an obstacle in conclusion of EU–India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), which is being negotiated since 2007. However, after entry into an regional trade agreement (RTA), tariff preference in itself may not provide a country the requisite market access. The recent standard-setting exercises in ASEAN, a group with which India is deepening trade integration since 2010, may be considered as a case in point.

The analysis so far indicates that absence of participation in UNECE 1958 standard may restrict future options for India. Presently, Indian vehicle exports are reaching UNECE 1998 member countries (e.g., Ford India sending Ecosport to USA). It is also directed towards African and Latin American countries, presently not part of any agreement. However, the ASEAN countries, currently partnering India through free trade agreement (FTA), are increasingly moving towards UNECE 1958 standards. India’s sectoral trade surplus with ASEAN countries over 2009-2013 to 2014-2018 has declined from US$548.44mn to US$529.53mn, respectively. The potential challenges in reaching ASEAN and other UNECE 1958 member countries, in turn, may influence the relocation decisions of global auto majors in India, defeating the core purpose of MII initiative.

Given the scenario, a number of policy choices for India emerge. First, joining UNECE 1958 may not be a short-run option for India, but after evaluating the evolving trade pattern, in the long run, the country may consider adopting certain core 1958 standards, in line with its economic interests. Such a move may facilitate greater export flows from India to UNECE 1958 countries. The experience of Indonesia and Vietnam, who have conformed to select UNECE 1958 standards in spite of not being formally part of any agreement, deserves mention in this regard. Second, it is observed that India’s trade balance (TB) is not improving for several Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries, in spite of obtaining tariff preferences through an existing trade bloc. Part of the poor performance has been explained by Indian exporters often using the most favoured nation route rather than the preferential route, to avoid the associated compliance-related complexities. The standards and mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) conformance provisions in ASEAN–India FTA are also found to be weaker vis-à-vis the comparable provisions for other ASEAN-centric bilateral RTAs with other RCEP members. This underlines the need for both rules of origin (ROO) reforms and agreement on MRAs, which may enhance the trade potential in general and in automotive sector in particular. In the short run, India should therefore attempt to enhance exports to the UNECE 1998 members and CPs, given the commonality in standards. However, in the long run, there is a need to explore harmonization with certain core 1958 standards, to promote exports in general and even within its RTAs in particular.

The automotive sector is one of the most internationalized product groups in world trade. It is known that harmonization of product standards with partner countries can facilitate bilateral trade flows. Presently, three agreements exist for harmonization of automotive standards relating to passenger and vehicle safety under the aegis of UNECE – UNECE 1958, UNECE 1997 and UNECE 1998. Through a series of reforms and launch of the MII initiative in 2014, India has deepened its presence in world automotive sector trade and aspires to play a bigger role in coming days. Moreover, India is a WTO member and has joined the UNECE 1998 standard in 2006, which means that several important conventions regulate and bind the country. The current paper intends to analyze whether the domestic policy reforms in India would suffice in promoting the exports from this sector, or there is a need to conform to stricter international standards. The data analysis reveals that India’s relative trade orientation is deepening towards the UNECE 1998 members and countries not part of any UNECE agreements. On the other hand, the relative trade share of the UNECE 1958 countries in India’s trade basket has declined and a mixed trend is noticed for the common CPs. The analysis indicates that the divergence in automotive product standards might crucially influence India’s trade flows in general and participation in international production networks in particular. The paper argues that in the long run, India needs to consider adherence to certain UNECE 1958 standards as well as speeding up the pending domestic reforms.

Building industrial clusters is getting much more political attention and strategic orientation in all developing countries. This study started by revising the conceptual and theoretical frameworks for industrial clusters, followed by some insights and contributions about empirical bases for clusters' dynamics and processes. The study focused on the case of Agadir Agreement between four Arab countries (Egypt, Jordon, Morocco, and Tunisia), which was initiated after the Euro-Mediterranean partnerships, and the rationale of the agreement was based on the concept of cumulative value-added origin. The study based its methodology on analyzing the international and bilateral trade flows of six industrial goods from the automotive sector among the four countries and with the EU countries to detect the degree of industrial collaboration and the achieved success of each country in this sector. The study indicated that the four countries used the concept of industrial clusters for economic development, but the results of the analysis showed that till now Agadir Agreement only achieved a shallow integration, while failed to deeply integrate as one big collaborative industrial cluster.

The promotion of low tariffs and free trade has been the underlying driver of global economic growth. The recent political developments in the United States and Great Britain calls into question, whether free trade will be supported by the governments of the industrialized world in the future. Shortly after being inaugurated in 2017, the President of the United States has repeatedly announced his plans to impose punitive tariffs on the import of foreign products in order to protect the country’s domestic economy. Besides a controversial border adjustment tax, he has frequently brought up the possibility of imposing a 35% tariff on automobile imports. The chapter aims to analyze the effects of such a tariff on trade in the automotive sector between the United States and Germany as well as on German automobile manufacturers. It takes a quantitative approach to draw a conclusion about the relationship between import tariffs on automobiles and passenger vehicle imports from Germany to the United States utilizing a fixed effects regression model based on panel data. The model finds a significant negative correlation between the examined variables, but even in a worst case scenario, German manufacturers are resilient to the predicted revenue losses caused by a tariff increase.

Draws on recent research on the impact of electronic data interchange (EDI) on the Australian automotive industry. The often considerable efforts by large corporations towards the globalization of production and distribution has led such firms (typically multi‐national corporations) to invest in technologies designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their global operations. In this context, one such technology is EDI. Much has been written about EDI and, in particular, the benefits that adopters can expect from using this comparatively simple, facilitating technology. While many authors are quick to extol the virtues of EDI, rarely have they documented the actual benefits and costs to an organization from adoption. Examines the impact of EDI on trading partners in the Australian automotive industry. Research consisted of a longitudinal study (between 1992 and 1994) of all component manufacturers which were supplying components to the large locally‐based multi‐national vehicle assemblers (Ford, General Motors‐Holden (GMH), Mitsubishi and Toyota). It is the component manufacturers who have felt the major impact of their larger customer’s requirements to become EDI capable.The alternative was to cease supplying the automotive industry. Following the establishment of a conceptual model, path analysis was used to analyse support for a number of hypotheses in measuring the extent of benefits to the organization from using EDI. Conclusions so far drawn support the hypothesis that benefits were being achieved depending on the degree of commitment of the organization to issues such as system integration, and level of senior management involvement. A number of suppliers found that despite being forced into EDI adoption, they were obtaining some competitive advantage, and having received new business (e.g. international contracts) partly as a result of being EDI capable.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an economic region straddling the Canada‐USA border between Ontario and Michigan from historical and contemporary perspectives. It aims to highlight policy challenges for federal, state, provincial and municipal governments.

This paper provides a general review based on academic literature, government and consultant reports and data from a variety of sources. It begins with a historical review of the study regions. This is followed by a more detailed contemporary review of conditions arising since the attacks of September 11, 2001. A number of possible and ongoing policy options for various orders of government are then described.

The paper finds that Ontario and Michigan comprise a highly integrated economic region with a particular focus on automotive production. Within that region the Canada‐USA border is a key transportation bottleneck whose impedance effect has gotten worse in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. A variety of policies have been implemented to try to reduce the cost of the border with mixed success and there is little cross‐border interaction among lower orders of government.

To the best of the author's knowledge there has been no other paper published in an academic journal that describes the history, current situation and policy issues of the study region. The value of this paper lies in providing a multidisciplinary overview and a starting point for further research on the region.

The 1980s have witnessed a marked divergence in the economic and industrial relations development in the North American auto‐industry. It is argued that important links exist between industrial relations and the wider patterns of uneven development in the North American auto‐industry. The development of industrial relations in this sector has been and will continue to be a major factor in determining the form of work organisation, particularly as pressures to move towards more Japanese or flexible working practices grow.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe similarities between logistics structures and mid-term planning problems in the grocery retail and automotive industries in a specific internal section of their respective supply chains.

The benchmarking approach is used as a framework for this paper. It is based on insights resulting from several joint projects with grocery retailers and automobile producers. A particular focus of the research was participating in an exchange of ideas and experience between logistics managers in both industry sectors.

The authors have identified parallels when comparing the internal retail supply chain of the grocery retail industry, which consists of distribution centres, transportation and in-store logistics, with the internal logistics network in the automotive industry, which consists of logistics supermarkets, transportation and work zone operations at the assembly line. Strong similarities have been found for three planning problems related to tactical planning tasks: assigning products and parts to delivery modes, selecting packaging units and loading carriers, and determining delivery cycles. In comparison to retailing, there is a clearer trend in the automotive industry to plan line-back and align processes with the operator's requirements at the assembly line.

For logisticians in grocery retailing and the automotive industry, this paper provides relevant input for functional benchmarking initiatives and offers an inspirational view beyond the horizon.

This paper is the first to focus on similarities in logistics network structures and planning tasks between the two industries from the viewpoint of grocery retailing.

Ten years ago, Resende was a peaceful town near a well-known mountain resort in the State of Rio de Janeiro and housing the famous military academy through which many of the military elite of Brazil have passed. Near the border of the State of São Paulo and beside the main road linking the cities of Rio and São Paulo, Resende seemed doomed to a slow existence with no bright future ahead. This paper draws upon on-going research into the social impacts of new developments that took place in Resende, after the inauguration of two big vehicle assemblers – Volkswagen’s bus and truck plant in 1996 and the Peugeot/Citroen car assembly plant in 2001. In the case of VW, the plant was also presented as a major development in vehicle assembly. The unique feature of the plant’s production system rests on the relationship between the assembler (VW) and its component suppliers. At Resende, these were involved in a joint enterprise to establish a “modular consortium” of production. In this system, the component suppliers finance a part of the factory and organise the assembly of their components on site. As such, few of the production workers are employed by VW whose main role in the process is to co-ordinate production and market the vehicle.

Examines how the use of the World Wide Web has evolved in relation to automotive retailing. Reviews the authors’ model of virtual automotive dealership developed in an earlier article in this journal and discusses analytically the current state and future of virtual automotive distribution. Concludes that the element contributing most to the viability of the virtual dealership concept is the willingness of a manufacturer to establish a new line‐make in the US market.

Marketing-managing customer relationship, market positioning, target marketing, product strategy, distribution, retailing and supply chain management, integrated marketing communications.

Undergraduate and graduate students in international marketing; business administration; strategic decision making and general management courses.

The case study focuses on the current scenario within the Indian automotive lubricants industry, in order to provide an understanding of the marketing challenges, especially in retailing and distribution, faced by organisations within this highly competitive sector. The case examines the implementation of marketing strategies into practice and provides an insight into the importance of branding, market segmentation, market positioning, product and pricing strategies and customer relationship management (CRM).

The case study enables the students to understand and analyse: the current business environment and dynamics of emergence in the Indian automotive lubricants market; the critical success factors for doing business in the Indian automotive lubricants market and the associated opportunities and challenges; the importance of distribution and retailing strategies in the Indian context; Izo's growth and expansion strategy in India; and Izo's sales management and CRM systems and there importance to the success of the business.

Teaching note.