automobile industry嘅特徵

First, see if this Wikipedia article helps:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_industry

Next, let's see if a Five-Forces model will help on your analysis (just my own analysis. Feel free to comment and discuss further)

COMPETITION: Very competitive. Manufacturers are making models with different engines to fit different local market around the world. Some traditional "luxury" or "economy" manufacturers will try to penetrate into each others market by either creating lower or higher models in-house (e.g., Mercedes making A-Class, Audi making A2 and A3, Toyota making Lexus and Scion), or acquiring other manufacturers/brand names (BMW buying Rolls Royce and Mini; VW Group buying Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini; Ford owns Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin), or by merging (Chrysler merged with Dailmler Benz). Manufacturers are no longer having one-single image and serving only one portion of the whole market.

NEW ENTRANT: Very difficult. Automotive manufacturer is a high-capital intensive industry. All the factories, production line, supply chain structures takes years and tons of money to established.

END USER/BUYER: They have a lot of bargain power. It doesn't matter if they are rich or poor, they can choose what kind of cars they want to buy as long as their wallet can afford. If they feel like it, they don't even really have to buy a car if public transportation is easily accessible. Manufacturers in the auto industry have to keep on improving themselves, keeping the cost down and innovate their manufacturing process, also creating new and good products that add values to the customers, in order to stay competitive. Cost alone may not be the only way to win over customer in most markets

SUPPLIER: Neutral. Most parts suppliers have little bargaining power against the large manufacturers, and their companies fate ususally rely on the manufacturers' order. However, at the same time, if the suppliers are not doing their jobs, like providing parts with good quality and be on-time, that can cost the manufacturers a lot of money (product recalls that not only cost the manufacturers money to fix the problem but also affect the brand's image; production idle time if the parts are not delivered to the plant on-time)

SUBSTITUTE: Depends on where you live. If the market's public transportation system is not well established then there's little substitute. In city like HK, people don't really have to buy a car to travel. HOWEVER, substitute can also include information technology which can help people to work at home and don't have to drive to office to work.

GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC (Sixth Force Model): Government sure have a big saying to the auto manufacturers, as they establish safety guideline that all the products have to pass the crash test and keep the vehicle emission clean. Public will form opinions toward certain actions auto manufacturers take.

Hope it helps.