This book is about the history of product variety in the US automotive industry from the black Ford-T to hot-rodders and easy-riders up to latest trends. It focuses on the dual structure of automotive industry in the United States: on one hand, relatively few and large companies producing cars that apparently achieve a degree of market power through product differentiation, and on the other hand, a relatively small niche market with distinct and smaller producers offering specialty equipment to enhance the performance, appearance, and handling of vehicles. The book presents novel results from an in-depth study with implications for both economic theory and the management of product variety.

A historical and analytical time travel in the US automotive industry Rich data and anecdotal evidence to understand history and nature of product variety One of the few in-depth studies on niche markets? Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Marco Guerzoni works at the Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis" at the University of Torino and he is affiliate at BRICK (Collegio Carlo Alberto) and at CRIOS, Bocconi University. Marco holds a Masters from SPRU and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Milan. His research interests focus on the economics and management of innovation and technology policy. His current work involves modeling a demand-based view of the industry life cycle and on matching criteria between technological opportunities and users needs. Automotive, tourism, winter sport, cultural goods, and semiconductor industries are the focus of his research. He is author of several publications in international scientific journals such as the Cambridge Journal of Economics, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Economics of Innovation and New Technology.

Inhalt
Introduction.- Chapter 1: Variety in the Automobile Industry.- Chapter2: The Economics of Variety.- Chapter3: Empirical Analysis.- Conclusion.