Re-insourcing as a manufacturing-strategic option during a crisis—Cases from the automobile industry

In response to the economic downturn following the recent financial crisis, the automobile industry switched to ‘re-insourcing’. The objective of this paper is to explore underlying motives and decision-making in manufacturing strategy, especially with regard to re-insourcing in the automobile industry. While there has been a lot of research on the topic of ‘outsourcing’, its opposite has not been researched widely. Even though there are some papers on the automobile manufacturing industry, a deeper industrial insight into re-insourcing is missing. Owing to the increased amount of re-insourcing implemented during the economic crisis, the latter lends itself well to gaining a deeper understanding of the phenomenon.Six case studies – three of automobile manufacturers and three of automobile suppliers – with in-depth interviews are provided and consequently interpreted. All case studies indicate that the crisis had a significant influence on manufacturing-strategic decisions. Underutilized capacities appear to be a dominant motive for re-insourcing. Differences between automobile manufacturers and automobile suppliers become apparent with regard to both, motives and decision-making.