Previous Session | Session Pages | Next Session
Session 9: Competitive Challenges Facing the Automotive Industry
In viewing the automotive industry as a microcosm for many industries, what can we learn from its errors and its successes?
Presentations
Walter McManus, "Who Moved My Cheap Gas Paradigm?" (PDF, 244 K)
George Magliano, "Competitive Challenges Facing the Automotive Industry" (PDF 264 K)
Links of Interest
Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation
Global Insight's Automotive Industry Page
Speakers
Walter S. McManus
Director, Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Walter S. McManus, an expert on alternative drive powertrains and automotive forecasting, was recently appointed Director of OSAT. His business career includes nine years at General Motors where he developed models to forecast vehicle sales, created visual information tools to stimulate new product development and spent a year as a manufacturing supervisor in a component factory. He joined J.D. Power and Associates in 1999 as Executive Director, Forecasting and Analytics. While at J.D. Power he developed a variety of forecasting auto sales models in most markets worldwide and at GM, he conducted research on new automotive technologies and their impact on society and the environment, the market potential of hybrids and diesel-powered vehicles, and automotive product and brand portfolio strategies.
McManus earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1977. He was awarded his PhD in 1983 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).He was awarded the Sidney Stern Fellow and a Foundation for Research in Economics and Education Fellow. His fields of specialization were econometrics, industrial organization, and labor economics
A member of the American Economic Association (AEA), the National Association of Business Economics (NABE), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and the Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA), he is an economics research and analysis executive with a record of influential research and a history of leadership accomplishments. He is regularly invited to speak to industry, policy, and research organizations. He is widely cited as an authority on the automotive industry in the business and general media.
George Magliano
Director of Automotive Research
Global Insight
George Magliano is responsible for overseeing Global Insight’s North and South American Automotive Forecasting Services, as well as the U.S. Regional Light-Vehicle Forecasting Services and related project work. He has focused on the automotive industry since 1989, when he joined Economic Consulting and Planning (ECAP) as director of Consumer Research.
Magliano became director of Automotive Research when ECAP was acquired by WEFA, Inc. several years later. For WEFA, he supervised all global automotive research, primarily specializing in forecasting North American vehicle sales and production, as well as many Asian countries. Magliano also has developed models of international trade flows for vehicles and parts and conducted studies of the U.S. aftermarket. In addition, he has directed studies involving customer segmentation, price elasticity, and the outlook under alternative forecast scenarios.
Prior to joining ECAP and WEFA, Magliano was the senior corporate economist for J.P. Stevens, one of the world's largest manufacturers of textiles. While there, he was responsible for all economic and industry forecasting and assisted in the development of the annual corporate business plan.
Magliano was educated at St. Francis College (Bachelor of Arts) and Fordham University (Master of Arts). He is also a member of the National Association for Business Economics, New York Association for Business Economics, and the Society of Automotive Analysts.
