Quaderni IRCrES-CNR, (2018) vol. 3, n. 5 cap. 2

Politica industriale e nuove tecnologie nell’industria dell’auto: rischi e opportunità

Industrial policy, automotive supply chain and new technologies: Risks and opportunities

Giuseppe Giulio Calabrese e Giampaolo Vitali

CNR-IRCRES, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Ricerca sulla Crescita Economica Sostenibile, via Real Collegio 30, Moncalieri (TO) – Italia

corresponding authors: giuseppe.giulio.calabrese@ircres.cnr.it     giampaolo.vitali@ircres.cnr.it

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyse the opportunities of the Turin automotive district within the new technological paradigm of the electric vehicles (EVs, in broader sense).

Firstly, the paper shows that the new EV paradigm is closely linked to the Internet-of-Thing technology as well as with the new digital economy. Because of this, local companies have to invest in managing the new technologies, and the industrial policy can play an important role about the diffusion of “Industry 4.0” investments.

Secondly, the paper takes into consideration the production of EVs within the EU markets, and its fast growth. Even if the penetration ratio of the EVs is still very low, all the automotive manufactures are going to adapt their production to the new paradigm, and public sector starts to invest into the charging infrastructures too.

Finally, the paper defines a public policy that suggests a fair compromise for the local automotive industry in order to cope with the EV revolution. Investing as soon as possible into the development of hybrid models, and not into the pure electric vehicle, could safeguard part of the old supply chain and give, at the same time, new opportunities to the new EV suppliers. This policy deals with an intermediate step to adapt the old industrial structure to the new paradigm, in order to have a non-disruptive impact on the local supply chain, but rather a slow and progressive evolution of the supply chain. The old one will have a decreasing production over time, whereas the new EV supply chain will growth accordingly.

Keywords: Industrial policy, automotive, supply chain, industry 4.0.

JEL codes: L52, L62, O38

DOI: 10.23760/2499-6661.2018.019

How to Cite this Article

Calabrese G., & Vitali G. (2018). Politica industriale e nuove tecnologie nell’industria dell’auto: rischi e opportunità. Quaderni IRCrES-CNR, 3(5), 13–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.23760/2499-6661.2018.019