Capitalist Regulation, Flexible Production, and Auto Market Evolution

Abstract

The ability of the Indian economy to accommodate numerous automobile manufacturers rested partly on demand growth. It was also supported by a fundamental restructuring of the industry as a whole, spearheaded by jointventures such as MUL and other collaborations between Indian and multinational firms. To meet growing demand not only did auto firms increase production of vehicles, but in order to successfully compete and quickly capture emerging markets firms had to cultivate a viable auto components supplier industry. This is the second layer of supply-driven market development. Increasing backward integration was made possible by new institutional arrangements at the macro (national) and micro (industrial and firm) levels. These are institutional responses to a changing national environment of market growth induced by embourgeoisment and the challenges of securing that market.