HYBRID TECHNOLOGY

Hybrid technology and the consumer behaviour

Hybrid technology and the consumer behaviour

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationships between: 1) the hybrid technologies of the automotive industry ; 2) competitive strategies implemented recently by leading auto-makers, especially strategies product and R & D (Research and Development) -, and 3) their performance in the automobile and consumer behavior (Maynard, Michelle, 2004, pp. 284-290). The working hypothesis is that, in a context of deepening globalization sector strategies and their local competitive performance subsidiaries in the market and are growing strongly conditioned by the global competitive strategies adopts of the matrices. For this article, we selected nothings the following manufacturers: General Motors (GM), Ford, Volkswagen (VW), Toyota and Fiat. The choice of these automakers led a criterion that took into account while their importance in the domestic market Countries, the international relevance and enforceability research. This article consists of five items beyond this intro- production.

The globalization of the auto industry has been characterized by the concentration of production, sales and trade within the major markets the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development), the increasingly important role of foreign subsidiaries and FDI (Investment Foreign Direct), linking businesses and regions, reforms market at very high level of intra firm. The latter trend is resulting, on the one hand, the in- intensification of competition within the industry and the consequent pressure for a greater degree of coordination of productive activities and between organizational arrays and networks of affiliated company, and secondly, by new technological possibilities made possible by introduction of new technologies - especially by techniques resulting from the convergence of the new themes for telecommunications (satellite and cable) with technologies of computerization (Vickery, 1996; Hatzi- chronoglou, 1999, Carvalho, 2003).

Research Questions

What are the latest trends and costs of the hybrid technologies used in the automotive industry?

Which industries are focusing in the past and in future to implement hybrid technologies in the automotive sector?

Research Framework

Parallel to the modernization of the product line, production processes and the introduction of innovations organizational (modular consortium, condominium industrial, etc) and the loss of degrees of relative autonomy, since the most productive system integration has as a counterpart of a higher degree of harmony and commitment to the strategies and production programs established in the respective matrices.

Cars are the main vehicle for millions of Americans, and road transportation plays an important role in the overall locomotive structure of the country. In the manufacturing of American automobiles, their marketing and commercial operations employ about 20 million people or one in six Americans work directly or indirectly in the automotive industry. The American automotive industry utilizes most of the fleet of machines and forging equipments (Held, Goldblatt, Perraton, pp. 511-525). Production of cars in the United States is undertaken at a high level, but the industry is highly exposed to market fluctuations and downturns that directly affect both the automotive and related industries for example metallurgical, chemical and rubber industry, and machine tools ...