Automotive value chain development in Vietnam: Pathways between a new domestic carmaker, supplier development, and differing production systems

After opening the Vietnamese economy through free trade agreements, upgrading domestic vehicle assembly towards more localised production requires development of the domestic supplier industry. Based on qualitative case studies which combined interviews with a questionnaire, this paper analyses carmaker and supplier strategies towards participation in the automotive value chain. Literature on global value chains commonly finds that suppliers must comply with customer requirements in order to become part of said chains. While it is found that compliance is indeed required, it is emphasised that the domain of compliance varies significantly between customers, which creates issues for local suppliers. Further, it is argued that different requirements are rooted in differing production systems.