Le « Fordisme financier » ou pourquoi l'industrie automobile a tant souffert de la crise financière

This paper presents the collapse of the global automobile industry in 2008 in relation to the numerous porosities that exist between this industry and the financial sphere: 1/ the short term financing pattern of carmakers? working capital, of the network and even loans to individuals; 2/ the twofold function of credit since car demand is financed externally and stimulated by the form of credit supply (leasing); 3/ the closer dependency of the production process to financing conditions in the context of off-shoring. These porosities characterize a paradigm that can be qualified as « financial Fordism » and whose main features seem to be: 1/ maintaining a competitive selling price; 2/ reducing working capital if external financing becomes too costly; 3/ increasing demand via external financing not via wages like in the standard Fordism.