Final answer:
Collaborating with suppliers to create auto platforms is a strategic partnership, not an example of outsourcing. The automobile industry benefits from global competition and practices like outsourcing and offshoring for cost savings. Option number b is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
Toyota and DaimlerChrysler collaborating with suppliers to develop new automobile platforms is false in terms of being an example of outsourcing. Outsourcing traditionally refers to a company hiring an outside firm to perform tasks that could otherwise be performed internally. In the context of the automobile industry and global trade dynamics, car companies may work with suppliers to create platforms, but that collaboration is part of a strategic partnership or supply chain management rather than pure outsourcing.
The competition arising from international trade, such as that between General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, and other global manufacturers like Toyota and Honda, generates innovation and quality improvements in the automobile sector. Globalization has shifted market dynamics, and outsourcing and offshoring have become common practices to reduce costs and leverage global efficiencies, though these are distinct from collaborative efforts with suppliers in platform development.