Title: What will happen to Brazilian automotive subsidiaries after their parent companies make the transition to electric mobility?

Authors: Heike Proff

Addresses: Lehrstuhl für ABWL & Internationales Automobilmanagement, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Bismarckstrasse 90, Raum BC 011 B, D 47057 Duisburg, Germany

Abstract: In the medium and long term, the automotive industry worldwide is expected to undergo radical discontinuous changes which will shake up a previously more or less stable industry. All serious automotive industry forecasts now anticipate that electric mobility will become established – in the industrialised countries at least – with fundamentally new vehicle concepts. Due to the long transition phase especially in the emerging markets, management of the |ambidexterity| of optimising the existing technology and developing radically new ones is required. This article specifically examines the Brazilian automotive industry in the transition to electric mobility, i.e., the research question of what will happen to the Brazilian subsidiaries of international automotive companies after their parent companies make the transition to electric mobility. To answer this question, 30 top managers of automotive manufacturers, suppliers and industry associations as well as consultants and academics were interviewed in Brazil between January and March 2010.

Keywords: automobile industry; discontinuous change; emerging markets; Brazil; multinational corporations; MNCs; subsidiaries; automotive technology; electric mobility; existing technology; new technologies; electric vehicles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2011.043167

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2011 Vol.11 No.4, pp.356 - 375

Published online: 13 Mar 2015 *

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