ABSTRACT
“We believe our Chinese joint venture can change the face of the auto industry in Asia, and give the Japanese the first real competition they have ever had in their own back yards.”18 Tod Clare, vice-president of international operations of American Motors Corporation (AMC), made this bold statement in 1983 after signing an ambitious, twenty-year, renewable agreement with Beijing Auto Works (BAW) formalizing an equity joint venture, called Beijing Jeep Corporation (BJC), to manufacture Jeeps in BAW’s Beijing plant. AMC faced strong competition. The Japanese auto manufacturers were eager to build market share in the People’s Republic of China (PRC); and the other U.S. and European global competitors were jockeying for market share and scale economies in an industry plagued by overcapacity and inefficiency.
