The renaissance in Britain's car industry has been a beacon

Hi,

Here comes the detailed solution:

Doubt of Economists:

The economists doubt that even if manufacturing companies like Jaguar can help increase UK exports, they cannot be a major source of new jobs over the long term

Note the following two things in the conclusion:
1. It is about manufacturing companies. Jaguar is merely used as an example.
2. There is strong usage of word “cannot”.

We need to provide information that in the given context will strengthen the economist’s claim.

Given Context:
• Car industry, which was stagnant for the last two years, is showing signs of revival.
• This revival can help UK economy by increasing manufacturing output and exports.
• It can also create high quality jobs.

Prethinking:

How could manufacturing companies not produce many jobs for UK, even with increasing exports and thus correspondingly increasing manufacturing activity?
1. Prethinking Assumption 1: Manufacturing companies will outsource some of their jobs to other countries.
2. Prethinking Assumption 2: Manufacturing companies will become more efficient in usage of workforce so that an increase in production may not translate into increase in employment.

Analysis of Answer choices:

A. The car industry does not create low-quality jobs. – We are concerned about the number of jobs, not quality of jobs. If car industry creates large number of high quality jobs, the economists doubt won’t be supported. Thus, incorrect.

B. Even though Jaguar’s exports grew more than 20% in the last year, its number of employees grew only by 5%. – This choice talks only about Jaguar, while economists’ doubt pertains to the entire manufacturing sector. Even if we say that their doubt could be based on data from single company, a 5% growth in employment is probably not a small growth. This still indicates that as exports will grow, so will employment. Thus, this option is also inconsistent with the conclusion.

C. The car industry is a capital intensive industry and frequently goes through cycles of growth and recession. – This does not even talk about jobs. Thus, incorrect.

D. To succeed in the global manufacturing industry, a company has to be extraordinarily efficient, which means using the same workforce for more production. – Correct. This is right on track. This choice implies that to succeed in the global market (exports), a company needs to produce more using the same workforce. Therefore, even if exports increase, this increase may not lead to a corresponding increase in jobs. Thus, this statement supports the economists’ doubt.

E. US car companies are financially well off than their British peers and can cut down their prices to gain market share. – Like option C, this also doesn’t talk about jobs. Thus, incorrect.

Hope this helps

Thanks,
Chiranjeev