Leadership in global automotive production: A history of change in the industry's 130 years

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of the history and evolution of the global automotive industry, the different actors and events that allowed different countries and their brands to be positioned in the leadership of the sector. From Karl Benz commercializing the first units at the end of the 19th century, to the start of Ford's mass production, which exponentially increased the production of American vehicles in favor of the North American country at the beginning of the 20th century and initiating, together with other producers, a period of more than half a century of predominance in production and exports at a global level; to the Asian automotive industry of the post Second World War that had in Japan its main exponent and with the capacity to compete and dispute the first place of the production and sales to achieve it in 2008; and finishing with the irruption of the Chinese automotive industry that applying different strategies located it as the first power in production and commercialization towards the second decade of the 21st century. Towards the end, the Ecuadorian automotive market is analyzed in an analogous way, showing the same behavior of the industry at a global level, replicating the trends. With a vast analysis of specialized sources, publications and considering an extensive bibliographic documentation; this document contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the evolution of one of the most important, dynamic and influential economic sectors of the present time, and how the different crises and wars that occurred in the previous century modified the trends of production and sale of vehicles.