World gears up for tension as emerging nations threaten to put G7 countries in the back seat

Ever since the days of Henry Ford, Detroit has been the hub of the world's motor industry. Motor City boasted the big three - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler - but it is now a shadow of its former self. Chrysler has been swallowed by Daimler, while between them Ford and General Motors have announced 60,000 job cuts. This may be more than production moving south to the non-unionised foreign-owned plants in the sunbelt: it could be a sign of a world where the economic geography is changing. One report predicted the new centres of the global motor industry would be in three Asian countries: China, Japan and Thailand. That looks a reasonable assumption in the light of plausible assumptions for the dispersion of growth over the next few decades.

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