96 Int. J. Automotive Technology and Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Structuring new automotive industries, restructuring old automotive industries and the new geopolitics of the global automotive sector Bernard Jullien and Tommaso Pardi* Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, Bât Laplace, 61, Avenue du Président Wilson, 94235 Cachan cedex, France E-mail: bernard.jullien@ens-cachan.fr E-mail: tpardi@gerpisa.ens-cachan.fr *Corresponding author Abstract: The paper considers how the process of structuring new automotive industries in emerging countries and restructuring old automotive industries in the TRIAD is transforming the product policies, productive organisations and employment relationships of global carmakers and redesigning the global and local geography of the design and production of cars. Following the review of the main trends implied by this evolution, it discusses the pertinence of the ‘productive models’ approach developed by the Gerpisa international network to frame and investigate these new issues. In conclusion, it stresses the radical novelty of the double process of global structuring and restructuring new and old automotive industries and proposes an updated set of analytical tools and research questions to fully grasp its multiple and far-reaching implications. Keywords: Gerpisa; productive models; automotive industry; BRIC; TRIAD; industrial restructuring; public policies; sustainable development; relocations; low-carbon vehicles; employment relationship. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Jullien, B. and Pardi, T. (2013) ‘Structuring new automotive industries, restructuring old automotive industries and the new geopolitics of the global automotive sector’, Int. J. Automotive Technology and Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.96–113. Biographical notes: Bernard Jullien is Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Bordeaux’s GREThA Research Centre, France and Director of the Gerpisa network of research on the car industry. Tommaso Pardi is Researcher in sociology at the CNRS (IDHE), France and Deputy Director of the Gerpisa network of research on the car industry. This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Structuring new automotive industries, restructuring old automotive industries and the new geopolitics of the global automotive sector’ presented at 20th Gerpisa International Colloquium, Krakow, 30 May 2012.