ABSTRACT

In recent years car production in the United States has undergone changes on a scale unknown since the pioneering era prior to World War One. New plants have been opened in the interior of the country, while most of those located along the east and west coast have been closed. The Changing U.S. Auto Industry uses concepts drawn from geography, such as access to markets and shipments of parts, to understand some of the reasons for the recent changes. Also critical is the changing role of labour in the production process, including the search by Japanese firms for a union-free environment, the re-location of some production to Mexico and the debate over the appropriate level of union-management cooperation.

part |2 pages

Part I Development of the geography of US automotive production

part |2 pages

Part II Reasons for recent locational changes: regional scale

chapter 6|29 pages

Market fragmentation

chapter 7|33 pages

Just-in-time delivery

part |2 pages

Part IIIReasons for recent locational changes: community scale

chapter 8|31 pages

Government impact on locational decisions

chapter 9|31 pages

Avoiding militant workers

chapter 10|25 pages

Whipsawing existing plants

chapter 11|8 pages

Conclusion