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Environmental Impacts of Korea-Europe Automotive Supply Chains; Moving Towards a More Sustainable Model

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Green Growth: Managing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy

Part of the book series: Greening of Industry Networks Studies ((GINS,volume 1))

Abstract

The question of how growth can be reconciled with sustainability is particularly pertinent in the case of cars. Environmental impacts of vehicle manufacture and use have been widely studied; those of the logistics of new vehicle distribution less so. Japan and Korea together constitute by far the leading source region for shipped cars both in terms of volume and carrier-miles generated. By implication, exported Japanese and Korean vehicles account for substantial amounts of greenhouse gases as they travel; first by ship, then onward by rail or road. Loading and unloading cars under their own power generates additional impacts.

In an apparent reversal of globalization, recent years have witnessed a gradual transfer of production from the home countries of Asian firms – notably Japan and Korea – to locations nearer to recipient markets. However, the environmental implications of such shifts in production location have not been widely considered. Here we are analyzing this process from an environmental perspective.

The research centres on Kia and Hyundai, contrasting the conventional route from Ulsan/Pusan to Western Europe whereby shipping is the principal mode, with the alternative of trucking cars from the new transplant locations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The latter is shown to have a significantly lower impact. The results may be surprising, but could have implications for future location decisions of car factories and – potentially – other manufacturing facilities, as well as raising wider questions about the long term viability of the globalised car system in favour of some more localized solution.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    When not fully assembled locally, cars are shipped in kits for near-market assembly in two forms: CKD – completely knocked down kit, which involves the assembly facility in full assembly, including – usually painting. With SKD – semi-knocked down kits the body is often painted and partly trimmed, allowing a lower cost assembly facility to be used viable at lower volumes.

  2. 2.

    Zaporizhia Automobile Building Plant: the biggest car manufacturer in Ukraine.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESRC BRASS Centre, and Logistics and Operations Management Section, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, 55 Park Place, CF10 3AT, Cardiff, Wales, UK

    Paul Nieuwenhuis

  2. Department of International Trade, College of Business Administration, MyongJi University, 50-3 Namgajwa-Dong, Seodaemun-Gu, Seoul, 120-728, Republic of Korea

    Andrew Ki-Young Choi

  3. Transport & Shipping Research Group, Logistics and Operations Management Section, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, 55 Parc Place, CF10 3AT, Cardiff, Wales, UK

    Anthony Beresford

Authors
  1. Paul Nieuwenhuis
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  2. Andrew Ki-Young Choi
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  3. Anthony Beresford
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Nieuwenhuis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiff University, BRASS, Parc Place 55, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, United Kingdom

    Diego A. Vazquez-Brust

  2. Clark University, Graduate School of Management, Main Street 950, Worcester, 01610-1477, Massachusetts, USA

    Joseph Sarkis

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

CO2 Emissions for two typical routes

 

Distance (units)

Mode

CO2/unit (g/km)

CO2 for route

Cars/load

Nr of loads

CO2 per car (kg)

Route 1 ROK-EU

Factory-truck

1 km

Car

164

164 g

1

6,000

0.164

Ulsan-Busan

74.24 km

Truck

890

66 kg

7.5

500

8.81

Busan-Rotterdam

31 days/744h/20,496 km

PCTC

650 g/kWh

6,847,776 kg

6,000

1

1,140

Ship-store

1 km

Car

164

164 g

1

6,000

0.164

Store-truck

1 km

Car

164

164 g

1

6,000

0.164

Rotterdam-DC

100 km

Truck

890

89 kg

12

500

7.41

Truck-storage

1 km

Car

164

164 g

1

6,000

0.164

Total

      

1156.88

Route 2 EU-EU

Factory-truck

1 km

Car

164

164 g

1

6,000

0.164

Zilina-DC

1,100 km

Truck

890

979 kg

12

500

81.6

Truck-storage

1 km

Car

164

164 g

1

6,000

0.164

Total

      

81.93

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Nieuwenhuis, P., Choi, A.KY., Beresford, A. (2012). Environmental Impacts of Korea-Europe Automotive Supply Chains; Moving Towards a More Sustainable Model. In: Vazquez-Brust, D., Sarkis, J. (eds) Green Growth: Managing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy. Greening of Industry Networks Studies, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4417-2_7

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