ABSTRACT
Outside of the public utilities, the European car industry has historically been the most politicised industry, reflecting its importance to the region’s economy. Each year alone, 11.5 million new vehicles are registered (DRI 1996a: 17-18). In the past Europe’s car markets were organized along strictly national lines. Each of the major European economies possessed at least one national champion producer. For Germany it was BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen; for France, Renault, Citroën and Peugeot; for the UK, British Leyland (later rebadged as Rover); and for Italy it was Fiat. These companies disproportionately sourced and marketed on a domestic basis. In the case of sourcing, this was something that was deliberately encouraged by their sponsoring governments. In the case of marketing, it was the inadvertent consequence of each government simultaneously pursuing a strategy of national promotion.
