Wege aus der Kapazitätsfalle in der Automobilindustrie

Summary Based on a static break-even analysis the article examines the impact of production capacity growth on the automobile industry. The article demonstrates that a capacity dimension, which neglects the dynamic development of variable costs, leads to a so called ‚capacity trap‘, where a combination of capacity growth, rising total cost and almost constant prices is prevalent. Although there is rising turnover caused by the production output the return on investment falls. Examples of the most important strategic measures in the automobile industry point out how the capacity trap is avoidable. Impacts on cost structure, production output and employment are listed. Four variants of capacity planning lead to falling total costs, which show that critical size in capacity dimension can be reached in combination with rising return on investment.