"Describe what you consider to be the key characteristics of the global automotive industry and discuss how the industry has changed in recent years." The global automotive industry is expected to produce 85 million unit sales in 2014, up from an estimated 82 million in 2013. The automotive industry is an extremely profitable industry, as we all know, but car sales since 2008 have been lower than long-term trend of the previous decade. Even in 2013, sales were below 16 million, the normal pace for the past 10 years. [“Global Auto Sales Rise to 85 Million in 2014” by MIKE RAMSEY and NEAL BOUDETTE – Wall Street Journal Online written December 16, 2013. Last accessed 04/7/14]. According to IHS Automotive, 82.84 million vehicles were sold last year. This represents an increase of 4.2% compared to 2012. [Adnan Riaz, March 24, 2014, 2014 looks to be a good year for the automotive industry, available at http://seekingalpha.com, last accessed 7/04/ 14]From studying the global automotive industry, I found that the industry resembles an oligopolistic market. The industry has a lot of costs such as labor, materials and advertising. [http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/automobile.asp last accessed 04/7/14] An oligopolistic market is dominated by a few large suppliers. Leading companies account for a large percentage of the market share. An oligopolistic market structure has many characteristics. [Characteristics of oligopoly, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/oligopoly-characteristics.html last accessed 8/04/2014]i) Dominance of the sector by a few large companies This is the most crucial characteristic of the oligopoly. The automotive industry includes a few large companies that are dominant, and each of these companies is approximately larger than the market... of paper... and secondarily than the production of tires. The price of gasoline has increased significantly in the United States in recent years. Oil is the main ingredient in tire production. An increase in oil prices means an increase in the costs of producing tires, an increase in the costs of heating or cooling the factory where the tires are produced, and finally an increase in the costs of shipping tires around the world. Tire manufacturers increase the price of tires due to the increase in oil prices. Both gasoline and tire production affect the automotive industry as the increase in the price of gasoline and tire production affects their profit margin. [“The Economic Impact of Rising Oil Prices on the Automobile Industry” by Binyak, April. 2008- Study Mode – Can be viewed at http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Economic-Impact-Of-Rising-Oil-140915.html. Last seen 08/04/14]