The changing geography of the European automobile system

The paper analyses the new geography of the European automotive area associated with the enlargement of the European Union and the structural changes occurring in the automobile industry's productive organisation. The new geographic configuration is a double extension (enlargement) and intensification (through the spatial agglomeration of activities) movement. The first part of the paper discusses the enlargement towards new areas with the development of the automotive activities in Central and Eastern European countries, its impact on the Spanish and Portuguese automobile industries and on the core regions. The second part analyses the double trend which affects the location of automobile production activities in Europe: on one side, specialisation, reflecting automotive firms' desire to benefit from the opportunities offered by the markets' greater openness and by enlargement towards new zones; on the other side, the spatial agglomeration of activities (clustering).