The main content of the essay concerns the German automobile industry. Combining with Porter’s diamond theory, the competitiveness of this sector is analyzed in detail. The essay is divided into two sections. In section one there is a brief outline for the German automobile industry regarding diverse factors in production, employment, export and innovation. In section two, the specific analyses for the German automobile manufacturing in terms of determinants of the diamond theory is illustrated explicitly. Furthermore, it is imperative to explain the European economic background concerning policy, market, labor force, technology and infrastructure. Finally, the influence of cultural function is illuminated with respect to the German vehicle industry. Section One
As a key manufacturing industry in the twentieth century, the automobile industry has seen its competitiveness distinctly. Dicken (2007, p.278) mentions that the significance of this industry not only embodies in the scale but also the correlation of other industries and fields, such as oil consumption and related employment.
The European automobile industry grew rapidly compared to their counterparts in the United States and Japan. According to Altshuler et al. (1984, p. viii) France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany occupied three-fourths of the auto production in the world and two-thirds of the vehicle sales. In addition, the production rate is 30 percent which is ahead of Japan and the United States during 21st century (Layan and Lung 2004, in Julien 2008, p.70). In 2003, the European automobile market increased by 0.4 per and reached a value of $267.8 billion (Datamonitor, 2004).
Among European countries Germany was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in 2003 (EIU, 2005), with market reaching a value of $54.02 billion (Datamonitor, 2004). The famous German companies BMW, Daimler Chrysler and Volkswagen stand for the world 's standard and
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