Publications
Independent Automotive Research & Industry Insights
The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) delivers independent, data-driven research and analysis to inform industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders navigating the evolving automotive landscape. Our research examines the economic, technological, manufacturing, and policy developments shaping the future of North America’s automotive industry.
From automotive trade policy, supply chains, and economic trends to advanced manufacturing, electrification, workforce development, and emerging technologies, CAR’s publications provide credible insights and informed perspectives on the industry’s most pressing challenges and opportunities.
Explore our library of automotive research reports, white papers, economic analyses, and industry studies to better understand the forces shaping automotive competitiveness, innovation, and the future of mobility. A lot of CAR’s research is publicly available, reflecting our commitment to advancing industry knowledge and informed decision-making.
Explore CAR Research Publications
Browse our latest research or search the collection to find analysis on the automotive industry topics most relevant to your organization.
Automotive Suppliers and the Revenue Acquisition Process: What’s Working, and What’s Not?
The Revenue Acquisition (RA) process is the core business process by which a company drives its product portfolio – and its top and bottom line. RA determines what new business a company acquires, what products it drops, how prices are set and what profit margins it hopes to realize.
A Collaborative Model for the Tool and Die Industry
Many tool and die makers have gone bankrupt during the first years of the new millennia. This study was commissioned to better understand the underlying causes for the demise of these shops. This report was sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Michigan: The High-Technology Automotive State
There is no fixed “official” definition for the concept of high tech. At different times various organizations and individuals have issued such labels as the “new category,” “information age,” “Internet economy,” “dot.com economy,” “web economy,” “silicon states,” or cyber-states,” and so on. This report was prepared for the Michigan Economic…
What Wall Street Wants…From the Auto Industry
The ownership shares of a majority of major automotive firms have been publicly traded for many years. As a result, the managers of public automotive firms are committed to the goal of maximizing shareholder value through growth in earnings and/or providing the highest possible rate of return on invested capital….
Applying Distributed Adaptive Optimization to Digital Car Body Development
Companies in today’s automotive industry are under immense competitive pressure to reduce the length of their product development cycle from initial concept to begin of high-volume manufacturing. From the publication: Engineering Self-Organizing Systems: Methodologies and Applications
The Canada-U.S. Border: An Automotive Study
For the Canadian and U.S. automotive industries, the internal crossing points of the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor Tunnel (Detroit-Windsor); the Blue Water Bridge (Port Huron-Sarnia), and the Peace Bridge (Buffalo-Fort Erie) are the critical connecting points within the logistics chain that support new light duty vehicle shipments of pproximately…
Creating Shareholder Value in the Supply Base, Gentex Corporation – Leveraging Intangible Assets Through Relationships – A Best Practices Case Study
In 1998, Andersen LLP undertook a three-year study of 10,000 firms to determine the underlying drivers of value creation. This study was prepared for Andersen LLP.
Positioning the State of Michigan as a Leading Candidate for Fuel Cell and Alternative Powertrain Manufacturing
The automotive industry enters the 21st century on the verge of a new powertrain paradigm. Recent technological developments suggest the internal combustion engine (ICE), which has been the driving force over the first 100 years, may have a major competitor within the coming decades. A report conducted for the Michigan…
E-readiness of the Automotive Supply Chain: Just How Wired is the Supplier Sector?
E-commerce plays a key role in the function of today’s automotive industry. In cooperation with supplysolution