The auto industry is among the biggest industry in the economy world. Global sales of automobiles averaged 50 million units annually in the 1990s, and by the year 2000, this figure had already grown to nearly 60 million units (Encyclopedia of global industries, second edition, Scott Heil editor, HD2324.E53 Ref). It creates 6.6 million direct and spin-off jobs and produces $243 billion in payroll compensation in U.S.A, according to a 2001 report on the "Contribution of the Automotive Industry to the U.S. Economy" prepared by the University of Michigan and the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). More than 3.7% of US's total gross domestic product (GDP) is generated by this industry.

Because of the concentration of production, the industry is characterized by intense competition. Most major manufactures were forced to restructure their operations in an attempt to reduce costs and to improve productivity. The turn of this century had witnessed the merge activities of many manufacturers: 1999, Ford, which already effectively controls Mazda and owns the British maker Jaguar and Aston Martin, acquired Volvo’s car operations; Renault invested $5.4 billion for a 37% stake in debt-laden Nissan, which owns a part of Subaru; Volkswagen AG has made several acquisitions, including the premium brands Rolls Royce cars of Britain; 1998, Daimler-Benz AG and Chrysler Corp. merged to DaimlerChrysler, which represents a peak in automaker merger activity (U.S Industry &Trade Outlook 2000). Despite the consolidation that has already taken place, the industry’s restructuring is still not over. In order to share and to reduce developing costs, production expenses and overhead and to help them stand on their feet in this more and more competitive market, we can expect that there will be more merge activities in the automobile industry, and there will be less competitors and more intense competition in the near future. Since it seems that there is less expanding capacity left and it is getting more and more difficult to expand business in the three mature markets, almo

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