Book contents
- Enterprise and Integration
- Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise
- Enterprise and Integration
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1How to Make a Market
- 2Coproducing Common Standards
- 3Regional Business Strategies
- 4Manufacturing the Single Market
- 5Financing Economic Transformations
- 6Commerce against the Social Single Market
- Conclusion
- AppendixEuropean Commission Directorates General 1985–1992
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Manufacturing the Single Market
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2026
Book contents
- Enterprise and Integration
- Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise
- Enterprise and Integration
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1How to Make a Market
- 2Coproducing Common Standards
- 3Regional Business Strategies
- 4Manufacturing the Single Market
- 5Financing Economic Transformations
- 6Commerce against the Social Single Market
- Conclusion
- AppendixEuropean Commission Directorates General 1985–1992
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines the response of car manufacturers to market integration through the cases of BMW and VW. It finds despite their differences, these car companies embraced the opportunities afforded by the Single Market, contributed to the standardization discussed in Chapter 2 through their widespread supply and value chains, and mobilized their regional interest associations to mitigate the challenges of market integration by shaping regional policies in their favor. VW’s expansion was production oriented, and it paired its “volume and diversity” strategy with a Sloanian approach to managing its growing family of brands. Conversely, BMW’s internationalization was distribution oriented, and it took a “quality” approach to profit and relied on a highly-skilled work force and huge network of specialty suppliers. This contrast, and the debates that took place within regional BIAs, demonstrates how different automakers navigated the changing European business environment of the 1980s and 1990s.
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- Enterprise and IntegrationBig Business and the Making of the Single European Market, pp. 117 - 157Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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