TABLE OF CONTENTS What is important is not the system but the creativity of human beings who select and interpret the information.
Taiichi Ohno, Former Executive Vice President, Toyota Motor Company
The automotive industry is the biggest industry in the world and constantly changing. Over 8 million people working for 50 manufacturers produced over 60 million vehicles in 2003 with production rising by 6% by mid-2004. As revealed by Table 1.1,1 80% of the vehicles were produced by just 12 manufacturers and over the next two decades there is speculation that this may reduce to just six. There has been modest growth since 1999 and apart from some changes in position, the top 15 vehicle manufacturers have remained the same over the same period.
| Rank | Vehicle manufacturer | Vehicle production (millions) includes passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, heavy trucks, buses and coaches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2003 Pareto | ||
| 1 | General Motors (including Opel-Vauxhall) | 8.42 | 8.13 | 7.58 | 8.33 | 8.19 | 13.52% |
| 2 | Ford (including Jaguar-Volvo cars) | 6.64 | 7.32 | 6.68 | 6.73 | 6.57 | 24.36% |
| 3 | Toyota | 5.46 | 5.95 | 6.05 | 6.63 | 6.24 | 34.66% |
| 4 | Volkswagen Group (including Audi, Seat and Skoda) | 4.78 | 5.11 | 5.11 | 5.02 | 5.02 | 42.96% |
| 5 | Daimler-Chrysler (with Evobus) | 4.83 | 4.67 | 4.36 | 4.46 | 4.23 | 49.95% |
