That the automobile business has become a pressure cooker is not news, it’s just that the relentlessness of it is ratcheting up by the minute and the Sturm und Drang of it all shows no signs of abating any time soon.
The competition for every bit of market share is now a global pursuit, with vast auto conglomerates using everything at their disposal in an attempt at capturing more of it than the others. (Witness the VW Group’s pricing strategy in Europe, which is causing industry players like Fiat-Chrysler’s Sergio Marchionne to cry foul, to no avail.) Amidst this swirling maelstrom of braggadocio and the gut-wrenching, pivotal decisions that have come to define this business, the idea of cut-throat competition has not only been redefined and intensified – with every move anticipated, dissected and countered – it has become a frantic pursuit unto itself just to keep up with it all.
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