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Latest Publication

National Policy, Global Giants: How Australia Built and Lost its Automotive Industry
John Wormald & Kim Rennick

What can we tell about the future of automobiles and the industries that make them by examining their past? Wormald and Rennick trace the history of powered land transport, the rise and fall of the railways, the spectacular rise of the automobile, and what might come next.

Delving into the mighty and complex automotive industry, following the growth of the markets and production, this book illustrates the globalization of vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers, giving form to the development of the industry's business model. A key factor in an auto-industry's successes and failures is the often-difficult relationship it has with government, which varies in nature from country to country.

As an illustrative case, Wormald and Rennick present and analyse the entire lifecycle of Australia's automotive history – including its birth, growth, functioning and death - and its shifting relationship with the government that supported it.

Cambridge University Press; First published 2 Jan 2020

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Time For A Model Change:
Re-Engineering The Global Automotive Industry
Graeme P. Maxton & John Wormald

A comprehensive review of most aspects of the industry, starting from world markets that are both maturing in the developed world and emerging elsewhere, through the environmental and technological challenges to the industry, the poor quality of relationships with both the up-stream and down-stream, to the industry's permanently depressing financial condition.

Cambridge University Press; First published 4 Nov 2004

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Driving Over A Cliff: Business Lessons from the World's Car Industry
Graeme P. Maxton & John Wormald

Presents a strategic view of the different sectors and functions of the automotive industry, both across time and world regions.

Addison-Wesley-Longman; First published 7 Nov 1994

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We have written policy-oriented reports that have had a significant impact, notably:
  • An analysis of the link between sales and service, delivered to the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission in 2001. This critically examined this link and concluded that it was to a large extent kept in place to protect the cross-subsidy by manufacturers and dealers of new vehicle activities from aftermarket profits, which are artificially shielded from competition.
  • A review of the safety implications of using parts not from vehicle manufacturer sources for repairing vehicles after crashes, conducted in partnership with the UK motor insurers' Thatcham research centre and delivered to the Legal Affairs Commission of the European Parliament in 2006.
  • A 2005 report for the Federation of Automotive Product Manufacturers in Australia on the quality of supplier-manufacturer relationships and the prospects for the industry there.
  • With Ethos Consulting of Kuala Lumpur, a new National Automotive Policy for Malaysia in 2006.
  • New Energy Policy; Michigan to Become the Next Beneficiary, in Michigan International Lawyer, Vol XXII, No III, Fall 2010, pp 8-13.