ARTICLE: “In India, a New Detroit: Nissan and Others Add Factories in Emerging Markets,” by Martin Fackler, New York Times, 26 June 2008, p. C1.

The big 3 of Japan (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) have stuck to the Old Core for a while, but now, “in a radical shift, Japan’s staid Big Three are plowing into exotic terrain, from Saharan Africa to the former Soviet Union to the scorching plains of southern India.”

Key line:

The aggressive moves by traditionally cautious automakers are the latest signpost that the epicenter of the global auto industry it shifting increasingly from California to somewhere between Canton and Calcutta.

I think the CA reference is more to standards than production, but you get the point: demand rules.