This article presents a case study of the ?roll-out? of a "world car" (the Fiat Palio).Based on original fieldwork carried on by the author in 6 countries (Italy, Brazil,Poland, Turkey, Argentina, India), it describes one of the most diverse internationalstrategies in the recent history of the auto industry and represents an interesting terrainfor analyzing how, in relationship with globalization, outsourcing and modularity playan increasing role in auto design and manufacturing.The article addresses the following research questions: 1) Does the "world car"approach represent a sustainable and robust strategy? 2) Is there a relationship betweenglobalization, modularization and outsourcing in the auto industry? 3) Can theseconcepts be used to map out future developments and transformations in the contractingstructure of the auto industry?This field study shows that producing and selling in many different places a car thatinvolves absolute cross-country identity of interior/exterior design, parts, and qualitystandards (a "world car") represents an innovative and sustainable strategy. It alsohighlights that the robustness of this strategy decreases as the international scope andtime span of the ?global? project increase.The Fiat Palio story also represents the first in depth analysis of what are, at the firmlevel, the dynamics that link globalization, outsourcing and modularization in the autoindustry. The article confirms that modularization a) is a vaguely defined andambiguously used term in the auto industry; b) is a broad concept, applicable andapplied to a number of systems (product design, manufacturing, work organization,etc.); c) has only recently moved its first steps in auto design and manufacturing.The embryonic applications of modularity in design, manufacturing and organizationreported in this study are used to map out future developments and transformations inthe product architectures and organizational architectures of the auto industry.The article also suggests that, within a global strategy, modularization and outsourcing,though remaining conceptually distinct, tend to become, in practice, increasinglyinseparable. The modularization of design, production and organization is intimatelyrelated to how, while trying to save costs, reduce risky investment, and manage theinstitutional constraints deriving from globalization, OEMs and suppliers partition theirtasks, defining a new international division of labor.