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History
The evolution of automobile manufacturing is intertwined with the major upheavals of the 20th century. The industry grew from a craft serving a limited clientele to a situation of mass production, along the way improving manufacturing quality and working conditions and reducing costs. Today, the automobile industry is a major component of economic growth in all industrialized countries. On a larger scale, changes in the industry reflect changes in society as a whole.
From craft to mass production
 Before 1914, automobiles were still a luxury item produced to meet the demands of a select clientele. Cars were virtually tailor-made, often by craftsmen who put their own car bodies over a manufacturer’s engine and chassis. Very quickly, customer demand transformed the craft into a full-fledged industry shaped by the division of labor and the use of specialized machines for each task.
This way of organizing production was first formalized by Frederick Winslow Taylor, who worked as a laborer before becoming an engineer. In 1903, Taylor published Shop Management, in which he developed his theory of the scientific organization of work. The main idea was to break down the production process into its constituent parts and calculate the time needed for each operation in order to improve quality while reducing costs and lead times. This marked the beginning of assembly lines and mass production.
Taylorism also addressed corporate management as a whole in that Taylor believed that an individual could contribute to the general good of the entire company by giving his very best.
Fordism: Taylorism applied to the automobile
 As early as 1908, Henry Ford saw the advantages of Taylor’s theories for the automobile industry. The new concept of series production resulted in the Model T, a no-frills car available in just one version that was within the means of a broad middle class. The manufacturing concept, combined with smart marketing—Ford developed the first consumer loans—was a big success. Some 15 million Model Ts were produced by 1927. With the rise of Fordism, Taylorized production developed spectacularly.
The period between the two World Wars was a promising time in France for leading-edge industries such as aviation, automobiles, tires and chemicals. As the French economy entered a phase of globalization, Taylorism placed the automobile at the center of a new age of industrialization. Ernest Mattern introduced the scientific organization of work at Peugeot and Citroën, which fully applied the theory to its Quai de Javel Traction Avant plant. After the economic depression of the 1930s, the return to growth was initially hampered by deflationary and Malthusian policies and then compromised by the beginning of World War II.
Labor and protest movements emerged in response to these profound changes in industry, and corporate leaders quickly took them into account. Although Taylorism enhanced productivity and promoted the employment of unskilled labor, it soon became apparent that the only way to increase production was to push workers to the limit. Reduced to the rank of automatons, workers saw their intellectual and social prospects decline. The monotonous tasks and lack of intellectual stimulation were discouraging.
In tandem with these movements, research began to highlight the advantages of developing human relations within companies. Harvard professor Elton Mayo did important work in this area in the 1930s. At the same time, union representative Hyacinthe Dubreuil emphasized the importance of making tasks more interesting and presented for the first time such concepts as decentralization and self-management.
After 1945, industrialization was once again a government priority. In France, a nationalization program and centralized planning encouraged reconstruction and modernization of production resources to sustain economic growth, which was jeopardized by a workforce shortage. Automobile production was divided among the main manufacturers, with Simca and Panhard specialized in small vehicles, Peugeot in 6-8 hp models and Citroën in large vehicles. Renault produced tractors and trucks and was authorized to turn out the mass-market 4CV.
The limits of Taylorism: towards a new organization of work
The 1960s and 1970s saw the decline of the French working class, with the percentage of the active population employed as workers dropping to 45.5% in 1970 from 61% in 1954. Tarnished by the image of Taylorism, industry, and automobile manufacturing in particular, no longer appeared to lead the economy. In addition, the environmental impact of industrial activities raised growing concerns. This situation served as a background to the development of concepts based on employee motivation and on the idea of doing useful, individualized work.
In other countries, like Germany and Japan, that did not have the same labor shortages, industry followed a different trend. In the early 1960s, the Japanese economy was dominated by manufacturing groups whose automobile businesses shared a narrow market. Taylorism was not easily applicable, notably because of the lack of space for the large inventories required by this type of production.
At Toyota, Taiichi Ohno found a way to eliminate inventories by organizing outsourcing and production on the basis of orders. To squeeze out the waste that increases costs, Ohno theorized that a company should only produce what had been ordered while only ordering what was required for production and only delivering when the product was needed. Toyota’s just-in-time model and methods spread rapidly. Today still, Kanban labels showing the needs of each workshop along the production line can be found in all automobile factories.
Starting in 1974, all areas of industry were affected by the recession. The Ford model reached its limits in automobile and other types of manufacturing. Western carmakers had to find new production methods as the Japanese had, in response to new consumption patterns. Today, manufacturers focus on being better attuned to demand and changing market requirements. PSA Peugeot Citroën has based its manufacturing strategy and organization on quality, compliance with cost and deadline targets and flexibility in order to produce a growing number of increasingly diverse models. This system empowers workers, who no longer simply execute tasks. In changing its objectives, the shop floor has also changed its outlook.
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