Strategies for facing the crisis: The case of the car design/style supply chain in France and in Italy

In a short space of time the car design/style supply chain has undergone deep changes, which are being amplified by the current economicfinancial crisis. The digitalisation of production and the transformation of supply links have modified the competitive positioning of these companies along the automotive supply chain. The aim of the paper is to analyse the drivers adopted by the French and the Italian car design/style firms for facing the crisis. The paper uses a brief literature review to highlight the strategic role of car design/style companies in the automotive industry in terms of innovation and supply chain. The French and Italian car design/style supply chains were investigated by 20 face-to-face interviews. In a context of macroeconomic downturn, the French and the Italian car design/style samples have overperformed the respective total automotive supply chains. The performance achieved and the implementations of distinguished strategies are the evidence of the resilience of the firms investigated. To date, there have been very few empirical studies which have investigated the strategies adopted by supply chains during the ongoing crisis. The digitalisation of production and the transformation of supply links have modified the competitive positioning of design/style companies along the automotive supply chain.