Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

AUTOMOTIVE REFERENCES LITERATUR COMPANIES GO EAST -
GERMANY AND AUSTRIA
Seite page 66
the most important players in the automotive
sector as counterpart of the OEM. Of course,
one can also identify a strong dependency of
supplier companies on the OEMs, insofar a
picture of great interdependence between international
companies arises. The same is true
for the European “contract manufacturers” (or
“0.5-tier suppliers”, see Figure 1) as a special
segment of the automotive industry yet still
very much subject to the OEM. Contract
manufacturers are developing and producing
automobiles on behalf of large automotive
producers, the OEMs. They are capable of fulfilling
all tasks required to produce a vehicle.
In this regard, these companies can be viewed
as “miniature” automobile manufacturers or
“small” OEMs. In addition, most of these
companies are market-leaders for the production
of specific supply modules. The segment
of “contract manufacturers” is chosen to present
two cases from Germany and Austria 3 .
Similar to a magnifying glass, this approach
should help to point out and analyse important
structural changes and actor’s behaviour
within this changing environment. Summing
up, the following aspects are important for this
paper:
High degree of internationalization.
High relevance of Central and Eastern
Europe regarding production sites in
this region for all automobile
companies (European, North
American and Asian) and the
supplier industry.
Interdependence between OEM and
suppliers as well as OEM and contract
manufacturers.
Importance of workers’ councils and
(metal) trade unions.
Importance of sector with regard to the
whole producing sector of a national
economy.
Large assembly lines and a multiplicity of
automated production steps, but the need
for (highly) skilled workers, manpower
and engineering capabilities to compete
in the sector.
Necessary development of new technologies,
innovations and inventions forces the
companies (OEM and suppliers) to invest
in research and development divisions.
The recent crisis of the automobile industry
just shows the tip of the iceberg. Even if the
bankruptcy of famous automobile companies
is on everyone’s lips in the light of the current
economic crisis, the crisis in the automotive
sector is not a new phenomenon. Automobile
companies have faced several severe problems
during the last two decades. Their economic
drawbacks are mainly caused by changing
circumstances on buyers’ and sellers’ markets
and resulting large overcapacities. Even if
this paper does not discuss these long-term,
structural problems, it is necessary to keep
their influence in the back of our minds when
regarding the following investigations.
2.1 General changes in the automotive sector
If one were to describe the market strategies of
automobile producers not in an analytical and
academic, but rather a heretical and exaggerated
way, a general diagnose could be: The European