Do countries protect their incumbents? An analysis of technological change in the automotive sector

Technological change is fundamental to the evolution of some markets. In particular, the automotive market foresees the rise and growth of particular trends in the next future: electrification, digitalization, and new viable business models. Also, in this market, some countries can be defined as incumbents within their product category. Incumbents can then have an interest in not facilitating the change, with the aim to protect the market into which they are specialized. The purpose of this thesis is to offer a detailed background on the technological changes in the automotive market, to determine top incumbents and top exporters countries, and to develop an analysis that will define if the considered countries act as hypothesized by focusing on the Electric and Internal Combustion Engine vehicle market.