global competition and the european automobile industry opportunities challenges professor andrew p graves imvp annual sponsor s briefing meeting june 1993 cape cod draft for discussion comment only please do not reproduce cite or quote without author permission executive summary in 1980s faced a period of dramatic restructuring due to downturn car sales after 1979 oil shock this crisis punctured profits over capacity was resolved during early by elimination one million units through plant closures more than 400 000 redundancies until 1985 did demand again reach levels late 1970s although new vehicles has remained at record is now facing severe where precariously balanced faces several its prosperity particular two key tasks face producers namely need close gap productivity quality technology with both japanese transplants uk those us who are adopting lean production systems construct strategy
