Innovation Odyssey

This book tells the story of a project to develop a low-cost electric car, a goal previously considered impossible. An adventure in management and technical innovation, the project was a breakthrough in cultural innovation as it brought together French, Japanese, Indian, and Chinese organizations to deliver a car for the European market.

Affordable is not typically the first adjective used to describe an electric automobile. This book traces the history of an affordable electric car, from its genesis to its marketing. This history is more than a singular adventure. It is the analysis of a project that allows us to understand the key issues of strategy and management of contemporary innovation.

The book features in lessons in:

• Strategy revealing the complexity of international product development and the conditions for its implementation in today’s fragmented world
• Project management showing what is required to succeed in the a priori impossible challenge of a design within an alliance between five partners from four different countries
• Innovation demonstrating that the electrification of mobility can be combined with affordable prices
• Industrial policy using the emblematic domain of electric vehicles to illustrate the major role of public authorities in technology, the future direction of this role, and the importance in the competition between Western and Chinese industries
• Intrapreneurship showing that a start-up is not the only context in which it is possible to attempt and experience breakthroughs.