The Logan epic

Innovation isn't what it used to be Traditionally a synonym for sophistication, hi-tech and expense, today it means seeking frugality, mining segments that the competition has abandoned and accessing new customers whose modest incomes meant they were once ignored. The West used to conceptualise innovation for its own purposes. Today, it is being developed increasingly for - and soon by - the emerging world.

The Logan's adventure epitomises these new innovation trajectories and outlines new frontiers for its industry. The question then becomes how and why a company like Renault chose this path; how it withstood so many surprises and obstacles to become one most spectacular success stories of the early 21st century; and whether this success might destabilise European industrialists' traditional development model.

Following an in-depth investigation behind the scenes at Renault and Dacia, the book's three authors - economists and managers specialised in the automotive industry - provide an answer to these and other questions.

Beyond the automotive sector, the book is also useful to anyone tracking current upheavals in the world's economic equilibrium and interested in how corporate innovation processes might contribute to this trend.