The increasing globalisation of the automotive industry is an indisputable fact. Today’s leading companies, such as Toyota, General Motors, Renault/Nissan, Volkswagen and a handful of others, view expansion into as-yet untapped markets as a means of ensuring the profitable growth that established – and increasingly saturated – markets cannot deliver. A replacement for the masses of two and three wheeled vehicles still serving as family transport in various parts of the world is a well recognised need, and in several emerging markets the race is on to introduce “people’s car” that offers the right blend of modernity, efficiency and price. Exactly who will be first to produce such a widely-accepted car remains to be seen: It may be one of the smaller international manufacturers that seizes the inititave, or perhaps an emerging market company such as India’s Tata or China’s Chery. What is more certain, however, is that the the companies best placed to grow in the future are those that locate their centres of production in the markets where growth is taking place – and this is every bit as true for wheels as it is for the vehicles they are fitted to.