Blog
Structural decline in Russian motoring
22nd November 2009
Here are two revealing BBC news videos about the decline in Russian car production and the economic and social challenges that result from it. In the first we visit a town heavily dependent on car manufacturing and one desperately seeking to generate new small businesses as part of a structural change in the local economy. In the second a report on the financial crisis facing loss making vehicle maker Lada and demands for state support to keep open an industry that perhaps should have closed years ago. The video is memorable partly for the continued use of the hammer to put the finishing touches to new cars! How can a business survive by employing 100,000 people but making only 130,000 cars a year?