Are sustainable mobility firms reshaping the traditional relationships in the automotive industry value Chain?
DATE:
2023-08-10
UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER: http://hdl.handle.net/11093/4954
EDITED VERSION: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652623016803
UNESCO SUBJECT: 3317.02 Automóviles ; 5311 Organización y Dirección de Empresas ; 5311.06 Estudio de Mercado
DOCUMENT TYPE: article
ABSTRACT
The rules of the automotive industry are changing due to sustainable mobility firms linked to essential products and technologies supplied to produce low environmental impact vehicles. Among others, these include batteries and their components (e.g., materials, cells), power electric systems, or technologies for recycling and reuse (e.g., mineral processing, de-pollution waste). Under the global value chain (GVC) approach, the research analyzed these changes through data collected from a survey comparing the relationships established by a sample of 27 sustainable mobility firms and 130 traditional components firms in the Spanish automotive industry value chain. The results indicate that the new players linked to sustainable mobility have greater decision-making power on the value chain in terms of price, product design, and geographical location. Moreover, these firms have broken the traditional asymmetrical dependence on leading buyers. As a result, they lead some of the key products in this industry, and show a high performance that favors a profitable return on investment in sustainable technologies. The main novelty of our findings lies in how to understand the new automotive industry value chain. Although this value chain continues to be governed by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), the sustainable mobility suppliers control the main value-added activities and have the power to take relevant decisions in key sustainable technologies.