Neither core nor periphery: The search for competitive advantage in the automotive semi‐periphery

Abstract This article examines a heretofore underexplored category of automotive‐producing nation known as the semi‐periphery. These nations are neither “core” automotive nations whose power derives from hosting headquarters of major automakers, nor are they low‐cost members of the automotive “integrated periphery” like Mexico or countries in Central and Eastern Europe or North Africa. Through a case study of one semi‐periphery country, Canada, the paper assesses automotive semi‐periphery countries' capacity to transition to knowledge‐based activities more typically associated with “core” automotive nations. In so doing, it raises implications for other “semi‐periphery” automotive‐producing nations as well as those currently categorized as “core” or “integrated periphery.”