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In 1962, South Korea assembled just 1,100 new automobiles. By 1996, this total had soared to 2,812,714. What explains this remarkable growth? The answer is complex, and involves a combination of a supportive State, timely technology alliances, a skilled but historically low-paid workforce, aggressive pricing, savvy entrepreneurs, and fortuitous circumstances. Despite this amazing ascent, comparatively little has been written about the Korean auto industry in English. In the first of a two-volume set, this 11-chapter book seeks to help fill this void by providing in-depth examinations of all six of Korea's automakers from their beginnings through 1996. Uniquely written from the perspective of industry analysts at the time (without knowledge of the Asian Fiscal Crisis), the book should prove informative to practitioners, scholars, and students interested in automotive history, international political economy, Asian studies, and more.
List of contents
Part I The Rise of South Korea's Auto Industry: Beginnings to 1996.- 1 Introduction and Overview: The Rise of the Korean Auto Industry.- 2 The State and Development in South Korea: From Yi to Early-Park.- 3 Park's Engineering of a South Korean Auto Industry: Beginnings to 1979.- 4 The Korean Auto Industry's Post-Park Emergence between Crises: 1980 to 1996.- Part II Korean Carmaker Stories, 1962 to 1996.- 5 Daewoo, Shinjin, and the Forerunners of GM Korea: Beginnings to 1996.- 6 Kia Motors, From Bikes to Cars: Beginnings to 1996.- 7 Hyundai Motor Part I: From Construction to Cars, Beginnings to 1987.- 8 Hyundai Motor Part II: Rapid Growth and Internationalization: 1987-1996.- 9 Dong-A and Shinjin Jeep Beget Ssangyong Motor: Beginnings to 1996.- 10 The Origins of Samsung Motors: Beginnings to 1996.- Part III Volume 1 - Conclusion and Summary.- 11 The Korean Auto Industry, 1962-1996: Summary, Conclusion, and Prelude to Volume 2.
About the author
A.J. Jacobs is Professor of Sociology at East Carolina University, USA. He is author of
Automotive FDI in Emerging Europe: Shifting Locales in the Motor Vehicle Industry (2017) and
The Automotive Industry and European Integration: The Divergent Paths of Belgium and Spain (2019).
