Introduction

Abstract

The motor industry has played a key role in capitalist development for most of the twentieth century. It was the leading sector in the United States in the inter-war years, it played the same role in Western Europe in the fifties and the sixties, and in Latin America it became a crucial barometer of economic progress in a number of countries in the sixties and seventies. It has been able to play such a major role because of the many links which the industry has with economic activity generally. The development of the motor industry created in the advanced capitalist countries a large number of parts and component firms producing both original equipment for the assemblers and spare parts for the replacement market. It also greatly enhanced the demand for the products of a number of other industries such as iron and steel, aluminium, rubber, plastic and glass. It has led to the growth of a vast distribution and servicing network, while the increasing use of motor vehicles has led to the growth of petrol stations and of course to the expansion of the oil industry. The ramifications of the industry are illustrated by one estimate that if all the indirect employment effects are included, there may be as many as 135 million people world-wide whose jobs depend on the motor industry (Bhaskar, 1980, p. 6).