Supply chain efficiency, value creation and the economic crisis – An empirical assessment of the European automotive industry 2002–2010

This paper seeks to evaluate the development of supply chain (SC) efficiency and the resulting impacts on company value. In a secondary data analysis of the European automotive industry, the trends of cost efficiency and working capital performance in the years 2002–2010 and the resulting value impacts are assessed. It is detected that many companies failed to manage cost and working capital in a balanced and value-adding way, which resulted in considerable value losses. The economic crisis is identified as an amplifier, but not the major cause of these negative trends. Originality and value of the paper arise from the scarcity of financial analyses that focus on the car sector or that measure and compare several factors of SC efficiency or value creation.