Structural Configuration and Strategic Investments-Indian Automobile Industry

Investments Indian Automobile Industry C Bhaktavatsala Rao Studies of industry evolution acquire a meaningful perspective if variables of structure and strategy are integrated into such studies. This paper develops a framework to explore the structural configuration in the Indian automobile industry in terms of investment strategies deployed by various constituent firms. Structural configuration is identified in terms of product and manufacturing dimensions. Strategic investments on research and development, plant expansion and modernisation, material and machine tool import dependence and capital intensity are analysed through innovative indexing of data. Certain common threads of investment behaviour attributable to structural evolution are identified.