Book Description

Japanese automobiles dominate the Southeast Asian car market and, although European automobile policies have for a long time been highly discriminatory towards Japanese imports, their production methods have been quickly implemented by European makers and suppliers. This study explains the various influences of the Japanese automobile industry on industrial development in both Southeast Asia and Europe. In Part I, contributors examine industrial organization and policy issues in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, looking at Japanese investment and the relative policy successes and failures in these host countries. Part II looks at skill formation systems in the Japanese dominated automobile industry in Southeast Asia and in Part III the authors focus on the EU and the very different influence of Japanese investment. These discussions suggest that Japanese assemblers by no means stick to restricted business relations with their traditional suppliers but are open to cooperation with non-Japanese firms.