小型汽车公司在汽车产业中的地位和行为外文原文.pdfVIP

242 | The Position and Behaviour of Smaller Firms in the Motor Industry by D . G . Rhys In the British and European motor industry there co-exist firms which differ widely in size. Given the existence of economies of scale the smaller firms are faced with the problem of survival; more precisely, of being able to charge a premium price to offset higher unit costs. After con- firming the existence of scale economies this paper looks at the corporate strategies of smaller firms, but first it is necessary to clarify what we mean by smaller firms. In any market for any good where economies of scale exist in its production, firms smaller than the optimum could, if no non-scale problems exist, be at a cost and, with competition, a profit disadvantage. However, in the motor industry the term smaller covers various types of operation. The Categorisation of Smaller Firms As well as the mass produced motor car, three other types can be distinguished. Firstly, the quality car made by medium sized firms, firms which are now sometimes mere divisions of larger companies; secondly, the luxury executive limousine or grand touring car, vehicles which compete less directly than do the quality cars with the products of the mass producers; thirdly, the products of the sports car factory or workshop, cars which are aimed at the eccentric affluent customer, the average income customer, and the younger element who are often in receipt of less than average income. The first group of firms are very busy in the field of persuading customers that their product is better than those of the mass producer, even if this claim can be shown as difficult to substantiate in terms of the normal definition of a