For the issue of carbon emission mitigation within the automotive supply chain, the cooperation between the vehicle manufacturers and the retailers has been proved to be an efficient measure to enhance emission reduction endeavors. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the cooperations between a vehicle manufacturer and multiple retailers based on the differential game method. By utilizing the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation, the equilibrium strategies of the participants under two different cooperation models, i.e., the decentralized model and the Stackelberg leader–follower cooperation model, are analyzed. To be specific, in the decentralized model, each participant independently decides its strategies, whereas the manufacturer cooperates with retailers by offering subsidies in the Stackelberg leader–follower model. Unlike previous studies that solely focused on participants’ decision-making in carbon emission reduction efforts, this paper also examines the retail pricing decisions of the retailers. Additionally, carbon trading is introduced to enhance the realism of our model. Through the theoretical analysis and the numerical experiments on the carbon emission reduction efforts of manufacturers and retailers, as well as the low-carbon reputation of vehicles and the overall system profit under both models, we conclude that the cooperative Stackelberg model outperforms the decentralized model in providing benefits to both parties. Furthermore, such a cooperative approach can foster the long-term development of the automotive supply chain, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable low-carbon future.

对于汽车供应链的碳减排问题，汽车制造商和零售商之间的合作已被证明是加强减排工作的有效措施。本文旨在基于微分博弈方法评估汽车制造商与多个零售商之间合作的有效性。利用Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman方程，分析了去中心化模型和Stackelberg领导者-追随者合作模型两种不同合作模型下参与者的均衡策略。具体来说，在去中心化模型中，每个参与者独立决定自己的策略，而在Stackelberg领导者-跟随者模型中，制造商通过提供补贴与零售商合作。与以往的研究仅关注参与者在碳减排努力中的决策不同，本文还研究了零售商的零售定价决策。此外，引入碳交易是为了增强我们模型的真实性。通过对两种模型下制造商和零售商的碳减排努力以及车辆的低碳声誉和整体系统利润的理论分析和数值实验，我们得出结论：合作式Stackelberg模型在以下方面优于分散式模型：为双方提供利益。此外，这种合作方式可以促进汽车供应链的长期发展，最终为更加可持续的低碳未来做出贡献。