Background: The automotive industry is more often subject to pressure and scrutiny from consumers, environmental organizations, as well as state regulators. Therefore, this industry is making major investments in implementing a robust CSR strategy in order to tackle these ramifications. The discussion among academia asserts that CSR does not always contribute to creating value, and this leads to the assumption that the implementation of CSR may be detrimental for some companies. Thus, it is questionable whether companies can create shared value through the mediating role of CSR. Considering the automotive industry as among the largest and most criticized industries from a CSR point of view, it was worth to investigate the topic of creating shared value through the mediating role of CSR under this context.

Purpose: The overall purpose of this thesis is to broaden and deepen the knowledge about how companies can create shared value through the mediating role of CSR in the automotive industry.

Method: In order to attain the research purpose, we conducted a qualitative content analysis, used an inductive approach, and collected the primary data through semi-structured interviews. A total of eight interviews were held with participants, and the respondents were representing car dealerships and automobile manufacturers.

Conclusion: Throughout the analysis, we have identified eight dimensions that impact shared value creation for the companies. These dimensions are CSR initiatives, employee relations, consumer relations, supply chain collaboration, local businesses partnership, the potential of local cluster, government regulatory compliance, and barriers to CSR. We have therefore developed a framework to orientate managers on how to tailor a CSR strategy that takes into consideration the aforementioned dimensions, and eventually create shared value.