The evolving configuration of production networks: a secondary data analysis in the automotive industry

Aims By adopting a production network perspective, this paper analyzes the evolution of the manufacturing footprint of automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in terms of geography, size, and specialization/focus. Methods/Approach The study provides a secondary data analysis based on the automotive industry portal MarkLines database, an industry-specific source containing information on automotive sales, production volumes, plant locations, and supply chain relationships. Building on this data, we performed several longitudinal analyses taking the OEMspecific network as the unit of investigation. In particular, we explored location choices, geographic dispersion (at global and regional level), plant numerosity, and size. A cluster analysis enabled us to identify the different paths pursued by the various companies in our sample. Results/Findings The preliminary findings show that OEMs with different characteristics take different decisions as regards the configuration of their manufacturing networks. Implications From a theoretical point of view, the study broadens the current knowledge on production networks through the longitudinal analysis of secondary data. We highlight that global industry trends in the configuration of manufacturing footprint (location, dimension, specialization) need to be read against company-specific characteristics. Moreover, the methodology can be replicated in different contexts to analyze other economic sectors as well. In terms of the contribution to practice, we provide evidence of the strategies pursued by different automotive firms and highlight the factors behind them.