Title: An architectural analysis of green vehicles - possibilities of technological, architectural and firm diversity

Authors: Takahiro Fujimoto

Addresses: Faculty of Economics University of Tokyo, Japan

Abstract: This paper applies the analytical framework of product architectures and design-based comparative advantages to the case of green vehicles, or low carbon automobiles which has potentials for capturing significant portions of the future market. First, the paper explains concepts of architectures, capabilities and their fits. Second, this framework is applied to the case of futuristic products, including green vehicles, which have to overcome their weaknesses in critical functions, critical components and critical links among them for future market acceptance. Third, we provide a preliminary analysis on architectural patterns of eight types of potential green vehicles. The results indicate their architectural diversity caused partly by their technological diversity. Finally, based on the hypothesis of architecture-capability fit, we predict that the architectural diversity of green vehicles may in turn result in diversity across firms or countries which take leading roles in different types of green vehicles, causing their intra-industrial trade.

Keywords: green vehicle; product architecture; design-based comparative advantage; critical functions; technological/architectural/firm diversity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2017.084809

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2017 Vol.17 No.2, pp.123 - 150

Received: 09 Jan 2017
Accepted: 09 Jan 2017
Published online: 29 Jun 2017 *

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