Introduction

Cars are not just a means of transportation — they are symbols of wealth, style and status. Cars provide us with the freedom to move in comfort in our own space and time, while simultaneously reflecting our style and preferences. Despite suffering from tremendous depreciation, they continue to be the ultimate consumer durable product — the consumer good on which we spend the highest share of our incomes. The number of cars produced in the world has been rising steadily since the 1950s, reaching over 70 million vehicles in the year 2008 (see Ferrazzi, Chapter 1). The automotive industry has been a fundamental pillar of the American model of capitalism and a key driver of the post-Second World War industrialization of Germany, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea. It has also made a greater contribution than most other sectors to the development of innovations in the organization of industrial production, such as the assembly line, total quality control and just-in-time production. Two of the global car producers, Ford and Toyota, have been so influential that their brand names have come to define the organizational models they invented — Fordism and Toyotism.