There is a myriad of automated driving technology that is making its way onto the roads. There are several different types of automated driving. SAE Levels of Automation help classify them, but this isn’t without confusion. Automotive News deciphers those Levels of Automation and dispels the mystery of automated driving technology using this helpful explanation. We’ll help you figure out who or what is accountable for driving an automobile at every level and what is the practical meaning of each level for going into the open road.
There aren’t many industries that are as diverse, large, and significant as the automotive industry. It is, in fact, the biggest single industry of manufacturing in the world. The practices of management, organizational structures, and especially the responses to environmental pressures exhibited by this sector are significant as a whole, as well as the impact they have on other business sectors. The products of this sector influence our lives not just by providing individuals with mobility, but they also bring many challenges. The decline in local pollution levels in cities, together with global issues like global warming and the handling of vehicles that have been scrapped, are only a few examples of the problems. The introduction paper we have for the Special Issue argues ( Orsato and Wells) that the solution to environmental concerns must be done in conjunction with the various problems facing the auto industry, including over-capacity, fragmented and saturated markets; capital insufficiency and the ongoing challenges of reaching a satisfactory level of profitability.
The papers that have been gathered in this Special Issue on the Automotive Industry and Sustainability are a reflection of the diverse environmental challenges that arise from the automobile industry, as well as the range of academic approaches to a variety of topics. As the editors of this particular issue, we believed it was necessary to reflect diverse perspectives on both theory and research in order to convey the essence of what the frontier of research was in relation to the automotive industry without being prescriptive or placing a specific theoretical area of study. In the same way, it was obviously essential to sort out proposals based on quality and innovation, as well as to ensure that they fit into the broad concept of considering the technology and business aspects of sustainability in relation to the automobile industry. Additionally, it was essential to record the perspectives of scholars from a range of geographic regions. The result is a distinct issue that can be described as multidisciplinary, multicultural and multi-national.
Academia is typically organized in schools of thought, within which there may exist different theories and methods that are believed to be a meaningful intellectual endeavors. In this regard, the focus on the industrial sector is unique (though prior special issues of the Journal of Cleaner Production have attempted to examine specific sectors); however, it is becoming more relevant. Our argument for this relevance is based on the nature of sustainability-related discourses and where the call for a multidisciplinary analysis is most prominent. This special issue aims to prove the need for a variety of strategies and theories to be brought into the discussion of the core question: how can we create a sustainable automotive industry? And how does it help our society be more environmentally sustainable?
The papers are mostly a reflection of an underlying perspective: that sustainable mobility (whatever that may be) cannot be delivered by an industry or production-consumption system that is itself unsustainable. In spite of all the talk about the diversity of our society, it is up to editors to organize these papers rationally and to clarify the theoretical foundations on the basis of the selection and coverage of the documents. The remainder of this introduction chapter aims to give that explanation.
