Increased global activity and an expanding reliance on computers heighten the need for engineers and computer scientists among automotive manufacturers
"What America drives, drives America," says the slogan of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA), the trade association of the three American car manufacturing companies—Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. And the influence of the automotive industry can hardly be overrated. It is the country's largest manufacturing industry, contributing $260 billion a year to the economy. Those three companies rank among the world's largest corporations, with a combined employment base of nearly 700,000 and a total payroll in excess of $35 billion annually. Together with their suppliers and dealers, they employ 2.3 million Americans in more than 4,000 facilities and 18,000 dealerships throughout the United States. According to the AAMA, one out of every seven jobs in this country is automotive-related.
With this much muscle, it's no surprise that three out of four vehicles sold in the United States are manufactured by the Big Three, which sold 11.1 million vehicles in 1996 (the most recent figures available). Of the ten best-selling vehicles of 1996, seven were American-made. (The other three were Japanese.) And General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are the three largest exporting companies in the United States, sending vehicles to more than 100 other countries. Their exports of cars and trucks have increased by 73% since 1990. American cars have about 25% of the market in Western Europe, and exports to Latin America and Asia have risen substantially—especially to Latin America, where pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans are increasingly popular and where NAFTA has had a positive effect on the market.
The restricted Asian market is one of two factors limiting the growth and profits of the American automotive industry. The Korean market, effectively closed for many years, has become more accessible since 1996. (Before then, regulations limited the number and size of foreign-owned car dealerships, and prime time television advertising by foreign car manufacturers was forbidden.) The Japanese market, the second largest in the world, is still largely inaccessible despite the efforts of the United States to influence legislation; while America has between 36% and 79% of most foreign automotive markets, its share of the Japanese market is only 5.65%. Labor disputes, such as the General Motors strike last summer, also affect profits.
But these are minor setbacks in the face of the industry's increasing global activity. Perhaps the most striking example is the recently signed merger between Chrysler and Daimler-Benz, which is expected to be complete by the end of this year. The resulting company, called DaimlerChrysler, will be incorporated in Germany, with two operational headquarters (Stuttgart, Germany, and Auburn Hills, Mich.). The merger, valued at $92 billion, will create an automotive corporation ranked in the world's top three in terms of revenue, capitalization and earnings, with 421,000 employees worldwide.
