Beginning in 2000 with the announcement by the Big Three automakers of plans for a single online supplier exchange Newco, major manufacturers in at least a half-dozen industries have followed suit. In the wake of the Big Three's announcement, other corporations have come together-on customer facing and supplier-facing initiatives-to create online joint ventures. Among the most prominent are liaisons between: DuPont, Cargill and Cenex Harvest States Cooperative; Sears and Carrefour, and Kraft, H. J. Heinz Co., and Grocery Manufacturers of America with other major food companies. This represents an enormous shift in online business strategy, and raises major challenges for marketers and market makers. The question is, will these e-marketplaces be the kind founded by consortia of manufacturers, by independent, third-party companies, or by a combination of both? At least in the auto industry, there is no question that both material management (supply chains) and distributions (dealerships) are more concentrated, while manufacturing is splintering. What does this implicate for other manufacturing industries and what does this mean in terms of international marketing strategies?