Publications

PwC Automotive Institute Analyst notes are designed to provide insightful analysis on the global automotive sector in a concise, easily-digestible format.

This edition of Automotive M&A Insights provides an annual review of M&A activity and key trends within the global automotive industry.

The current credit crisis has certainly taken its toll on automotive industry investment activity in 2008, and while the near-term prognosis looks bleak, our research indicates that there will continue to be attractive investment opportunities for private equity funds when credit facilities stabilise.

We are pleased to present our new Global automotive perspectives for 2008, in which you will find our vision for and expectations of key industry challenges that are shaping the ever-changing global automotive landscape.

This study aims to examine impacts of the increasingly important trend for truck manufacturers to address eco-friendly solutions. Our results build upon analyses of each major industry stakeholder's parameters and focuses on exploring different scenarios and their consequences, concluding in an assessment of whether the truck industry's green challenge is an unavoidable headwind or competitive edge for its players.

This edition explores the automotive transactions that closed during 2007, the underlying drivers of these deals and the implications of emerging trends on future M&A activity.

The study reveals that most consumers rate climate change and CO2 emissions as problematic but at the same time are not willing to actively change their behaviour accordingly or pay a premium for "green" technologies. To succeed in the marketplace manufacturers need to lower cost of climate-friendly technologies to a competitive level and raise customer acceptance by selective marketing.

This paper addresses the main issue surrounding intellectual property in the automotive industry, and how various methods drive the way that profits are recognised for tax purposes.

This study assesses the state of the Vietnamese automotive industry and identifies the main drivers and key factors to consider when considering investing in Vietnam. For the intrepid, Vietnam does offer possible medium to long-term opportunities, yet the industry is still very much in a development stage and significant challenges remain.

Inside this paper, PwC transfer pricing specialists examine trends in PCM, key tax and cash considerations and PCM, managing PCM developments in practice, and the benefits of alignment in a production capacity management restructuring.

Transfer pricing economics is a practical combination of micro- and macroeconomics and when properly applied, it lays out the entire value chain of activities of a corporation on a location by location basis to assess the most equitable possible arrangements between disparate entities within a corporation.

This automotive sector point of view provides you with a proactive approach to mitigating supply chain risk, outlining the steps that companies can take to realise the benefit of not having to experience a supply interruption, providing a company the ability to predict where the next weak link in a supply chain is likely to occur.

An increasing number of automotive manufacturers are migrating to Central and Eastern Europe but even with the best preparation and research, there are serious challenges that only emerge once the move has actually taken place. One of the most common issues is identified as fraud in the fifth and final part of the Eastern Influx series, by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In this paper we address the challenges associated with managing the transition to a new site in one of the 10 Central and Eastern European states that have recently joined the European Union (EU).

How should an automotive manufacturer or supplier that has decided to relocate to Central and Eastern Europe set about closing an existing plant in another country? This paper explores the challenges associated with disposing of such a business while optimising the value of the assets and controlling the costs.

What if a company decides to go ahead and take the plunge? Where, precisely, should it go? Our second paper covers the issues involved in choosing the right location. Finding the right location for a manufacturer's needs is not just a matter of selecting the right country, it is also a matter of selecting the right place within the right country.

In this, our first paper on setting up production facilities in Central and Eastern Europe, we discuss the continental drift of the past few years. We also look at the factors any manufacturer should consider before it decides to follow in the tracks of those that have already headed east.

Global warming may change the landscape. It is certainly impacting the automotive industry, where environmental performance is becoming a major influence. Car taxation has started to be used as a policy instrument to make consumers factor in the environmental performance of a car in the purchase decision or lease decision. In light of these developments, Fleet Europe and PricewaterhouseCoopers have collaborated to update taxation system information for 16 western European countries and to map the different tax systems applicable to the use and leasing of cars.

The PwC 2007 Fuel Cell Industry Survey examines the 2006 year-over-year financial results of the world’s 26 publicly traded companies whose primary business involves one or more of fuel cell production, systems integration, and/or related fuelling infrastructure.