From the Cradle to the Craze: China's Indigenous Automobile Industry

In the last three decades, China progressed from being nearly a truck-only producer to becoming the largest producer of passenger and commercial cars. The period 2001- 2013 is a period of ‘blowout’ in the Chinese automobile industry. To date, little is known regarding this emerging automobile industry which only started in the 1980s: What are the features of Chinese automobile industry? Has the Chinese automobile industry become a global player which also reached economy of scale? How is the indigenous automobile sector different from international joint ventures in China? Have Chinese companies gained full transfer of technology and possess the capacity to develop their own designs? This book intends to address these questions by examining its complicated and contradictory facts and interpretations through focusing on the Chinese indigenous automobile sector. The historical appraisal of the industry’s initial development, its difficulty in transition and the internal-external factors affecting the later growth will help us understand the industrial and technological development of China’s emerging economy.