There aren’t many industries as vast, diverse, and influential as the auto industry. It is, in fact, the biggest single industry of manufacturing in the world. The methods of management, organizational structures, and especially the way in which they respond to environmental demands that are embraced by this business are crucial as a whole. However, they also have the potential to impact other industries. The products of this sector affect our daily lives, not just by facilitating the mobility of millions of people and bringing many challenges. The degradation of indoor air pollution in the urban environment as well as global issues like global warming, as well as how scrapped vehicles are treated are only a few examples of these issues. The introduction paper we have for the Special Issue argues ( Orsato and Wells) that the solution to environmental concerns must be accompanied by the numerous problems facing the automotive industry, namely overcapacity, fragmented and saturated markets, capital insufficiency, and the ongoing challenges of getting a good profit.
The papers that have been gathered in this Special Issue on the Automobile Industry and Sustainability reflect the variety of environmental issues that are associated with the automobile industry and the diverse academic treatment of a variety of disciplines. As the editors of this particular issue, we thought it was necessary to reflect the different perspectives of both theoretical and empirical that would capture the essence of what the frontier of research was in relation to the industry without being prescriptive or placing a specific conceptual area of study. However, it was important to sort out proposals for innovation and quality and also for a general scope of taking into consideration the technological and business aspects of sustainability as they relate to the automobile industry. Additionally, it was essential to record the perspectives of academics from a variety of geographical locations. This resulted in a unique issue that can be described as multidisciplinary, multicultural, and multi-national.
Academia is usually organized into schools of thought, which are diverse theories and methodologies that constitute a worthwhile intellectual effort. In this sense, the focus on the industrial sector is atypical (though the previous special issues of the Journal of Cleaner Production have attempted to concentrate on specific industries); however, it is becoming more relevant. The reason we believe this stems from the characteristic of sustainability-related discourses and where the need for multidisciplinary analysis is the strongest. This special issue aims to prove that what is needed is an array of strategies and perspectives to bring to bear the main question: how can we ensure a sustainable auto 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. All this talk of the diversity of our society, it is the responsibility of editors to arrange these papers coherently and to describe the philosophical foundations on which the content and selection of the documents are based. The remainder of this introduction chapter aims to give that explanation.
Section A few snippets
Sustainability in the industry: an entire system and life cycle perspective
The insights provided by organizational theory have prompted a focus on the ‘corporate field that businesses operate within and, in particular, the ways that the components of this administrative field define, permit, and facilitate change within the company [1, [2, and [2]. Put the importance of context is. It’s important regarding both the time and location. A business is not in isolation; however, it exists as part of a series of relationships it influences and is affected by.
Design
One instance in which LCA, in the form of a formal selection technique, has been employed is in the area of selecting materials for products in the designing phase. In general, a particular material can provide advantages in certain aspects over the existing material. However, it also has its disadvantages. A good example of this is from the article by Tharumarajah and Koltun that discusses using magnesium in automotive components. It is a blatantly technical paper in which the benefits of magnesium are highlighted.
Manufacturing
From the 80s onwards from the 1980s onwards, a majority of automobile manufacturers have taken an active approach to the diminution of the environmental impact of their manufacturing processes. Every major car maker has strived to improve levels of environmental performance, and there are no doubts that advancements have been achieved.
The reason is straightforward: the integration of ecological principles in business makes sense. The main reason is the pressure to reduce costs in every way possible.
Vehicle use
In the early millennium, the internal combustion engines that powered (new) automobiles that were able to enter OECD roads released around 95% fewer harmful pollutants in the air than their counterparts in 1975 [66. From the perspective of the notion of incrementalism, these numbers suggest that the performance on environmental grounds of internal combustion engines (ICEs) has been significantly improved over the last few decades. The reason for these successes can be found in the imposing of emission standards for cars.
Vehicles that are in their final stages
One of the most poorly known factors affecting environmental efficiency is how to treat products that have reached the end of their operating time. In addition, as a result of European regulations regarding the treatment of what are known as end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), this issue has become an issue for the industry as a whole. In the end, there are numerous contributions to this issue that attempt to understand and quantify some of the implications.
In the second
Signposts and conclusions for the future
This special issue is evidence of the depth and range of work conducted around the world to improve an industry that is among the most powerful industries on the planet. In each case, additional studies are expected as solutions are sought at a variety of levels in a constantly evolving operational context. The benefits of a business (rather than a discipline or a methodological) concentration are clearly illustrated by the research contributions to the world urgently in need.
