The Best Car Manufacturers Of All Time, Ranked
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Your favorite car manufacturers of all time, whether or not they're still in business.
Since the inception of the automobile over 100 years ago, the car manufacturing industry has been one of the most competitive businesses in modern history. With so many models and body types to choose from, car manufacturers need to combine a sleek model with fuel efficiency, safety and affordability in order to attract potential customers to buy their cars. Over the past few years, car manufacturers have done their best to combine these elements in order to match customer's wants and sensibilities. With hybrid cars becoming more mainstream, manufacturers are creating new models to catch up to the demand.
Some of the best car manufacturers are the most expensive. Making a high-demand vehicle is something that many manufacturers strive to do and sports cars like Porsche and Ferrari are always mentioned as the best cars due to the look of their cars and how fast they can go. Popular brands that have a variety body types are Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, BMW, Nissan and Honda to name a few.
Vote up the car manufacturer and best car makers that you think are the best. There is no right or wrong answer to why you think a particular car maker is better than the other; it's up to you to decide. From the top car company to the top car makers, they're all here on this car makers list, for car shoppers to peruse and vote on.Most divisive: Tesla Motors
Over 15.2K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Car Manufacturers of All Time
- Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans. Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, and is owned by Volkswagen AG, which is itself majority-owned by Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Porsche's current lineup includes the 911, Boxster, Cayman, Panamera, Cayenne, Macan, and the 918.
- Mercedes-Benz (German pronunciation: [mɛʁˈtseːdəs ˈbɛnts]) is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG. The name first appeared in 1926 but traces its origins to Daimler's 1901 Mercedes and to Karl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen.
- Ferrari is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles in 1947. Fiat acquired 50% of Ferrari in 1969 and expanded its stake to 90% in 1988. In May 2012 the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the world's most expensive car, selling in a private transaction for $38,115,000 to American communications magnate Craig McCaw. In 2014 Fiat announced its intentions to sell its share in Ferrari, as of the announcement Fiat owned 90% of Ferrari. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it has had great success. Ferrari road cars are generally seen as a symbol of speed, luxury and wealth.
- Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini, an Italian manufacturing magnate, founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. in 1963 to compete with established marques, including Ferrari. In 1998, Mycom Setdco and V'Power sold Lamborghini to the Volkswagen Group where it was placed under the control of the group's Audi division.
- Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In March 2014 the multinational corporation consisted of 338,875 employees worldwide and, as of November 2014, is the twelfth-largest company in the world by revenue. Toyota was the largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 ahead of the Volkswagen Group and General Motors. In July of that year, the company reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle. Toyota is the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year. It did so in 2012 according to OICA, and in 2013 according to company data. As of July 2014, Toyota was the largest listed company in Japan by market capitalization and by revenue. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under 5 brands, including the Toyota brand, Hino, Lexus, Ranz, and Scion.
- 7Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, commonly known as BMW or BMW AG, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. BMW is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria. It also owns and produces Mini cars, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad. In 2014, the BMW Group produced 2,117,965 automobiles and approximately 120,000 motorcycles across all of its brands. BMW is part of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which are the three best-selling luxury automakers in the world.
- 8Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets and distributes luxury automobiles. Audi oversees worldwide operations from its headquarters in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. Audi-branded vehicles are produced in nine production facilities worldwide. Audi has been a majority owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group since 1966, following a phased purchase of Audi AG's predecessor, Auto Union, from Daimler-Benz. Volkswagen relaunched the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. "Horch", meaning "listen" in German, becomes "audi" in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union. Audi's slogan is Vorsprung durch Technik, meaning "Advancement through Technology". However, since 2007 Audi USA has used the slogan "Truth in Engineering". Audi is a member of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which are the three best-selling luxury automakers in the world.
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McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive, commonly referred to as McLaren, is a British automotive manufacturer of high-performance vehicles. The company was established as McLaren Cars in 1989 as a producer of road cars based on Formula One technology but in 2009, a new company was formed as a different company from the McLaren Technology Group and is now owned by a group of different investors It works closely with McLaren Racing, the Formula One constructor, and is a spinoff of McLaren Group. - Rolls-Royce Limited is a renowned English car-manufacturing company and later, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Sir Frederick Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904. In 1971 Rolls-Royce was crippled by the costs of developing the advanced RB211 jet engine, resulting in the nationalisation of the company as Rolls-Royce Limited. In 1973, the car division was separated from the parent company as Rolls-Royce Motors. Rolls-Royce Limited continued as a nationalised company until it was privatised in 1987 as Rolls-Royce plc.
- Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. It was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. The firm became associated with luxury grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional character James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger. The company has had a chequered financial history, including bankruptcy in the 1970s, but has also enjoyed long periods of success and stability, including under the ownership of David Brown, from 1947 to 1972 and of the Ford Motor Company from 1994 to 2007. In March 2007, a consortium of investors, led by David Richards, purchased 92% of Aston Martin for £479 million, with Ford retaining a £40 million stake. David Richards became chairman of Aston Martin. In December 2012, the Italian private equity fund Investindustrial signed a deal to buy 37.5% of Aston Martin, investing £150 million as a capital increase.
- 12Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001. Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, Nissan, and PSA in 2011. Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, which began production in 2012.
- 13Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a French car manufacturer of high-performance automobiles, founded in 1909 in the then German city of Molsheim, Alsace by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti. Bugatti cars were known for their design beauty and for their many race victories. Famous Bugattis include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car. The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be the end for the marque, and the death of his son Jean Bugatti in 1939 ensured there was not a successor to lead the factory. No more than about 8000 cars were made. The company struggled financially, and released one last model in the 1950s, before eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in the 1960s. In the 1990s, an Italian entrepreneur revived it as a builder of limited production exclusive sports cars. Today, the name is owned by German automobile manufacturing group Volkswagen.
- Bentley Motors Limited is a British luxury automaker, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the German company Volkswagen AG. Its principal activity is the design, engineering, manufacture, and distribution of luxury automobiles sold under the Bentley marque. Based in Crewe, England, Bentley Motors Limited was founded by W. O. Bentley on 18 January 1919 in Cricklewood near London and was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1931. Bentley Motors Limited is the direct successor of Rolls-Royce Motors, which Volkswagen AG purchased in 1998. The purchase included the vehicle designs, model nameplates, production and administrative facilities, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks, but not the rights to the use of the Rolls-Royce name or logo, which are owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc and were later licensed to BMW AG. Bentley vehicles are sold via franchised dealers worldwide, and as of November 2012, China was the largest individual market for Bentley automobiles. Most Bentley cars are assembled at the company's plant in Crewe, with a small number of Continental Flying Spurs assembled at the Transparent Factory in Dresden, Germany.
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Jaguar Cars
Jaguar Cars is a brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England, owned by the Indian company Tata Motors since 2008. Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before developing passenger cars. The name was changed to "Jaguar" after World War II to avoid the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials. A merger with the British Motor Corporation followed in 1966, the resulting enlarged company now being renamed as British Motor Holdings, which in 1968 merged with Leyland Motor Corporation and became British Leyland, itself to be nationalised in 1975. Jaguar was de-merged from British Leyland and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, becoming a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Ford in 1990. Jaguar has, in recent years, manufactured cars for the British Prime Minister, the most recent delivery being an XJ in May 2010. The company also holds royal warrants from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. - 17Subaru is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries, the twenty-second biggest automaker by production worldwide in 2012. Subaru is known for its use of the boxer engine layout in most of its vehicles above 1500 cc as well as its use of the Symmetrical All Wheel Drive drive-train layout since 1972. The flat/boxer engine and all-wheel-drive became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets by 1996, and is now standard in most North American market Subaru vehicles. The lone exception is the BRZ, introduced in 2012, which uses the boxer engine but is rear-wheel-drive. Subaru also offers turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the Impreza WRX and the Legacy 2.5GT. The 2.5XT trims of the Outback and Forester also include a turbocharged engine. Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, is currently in a partial partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation, which owns 16.5% of FHI. Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster M45, or "The Seven Sisters", which in turn inspires the logo and alludes to the companies that merged to create FHI.
- Koenigsegg Automotive AB is a Swedish manufacturer of high-performance sports cars, also known as hyper-cars, based in Ängelholm.
- 19Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automaker based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
- 20Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota. First introduced in 1989 in the USA, Lexus is now sold globally and has become Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. The Lexus marque is marketed in over 70 countries and territories worldwide, and has ranked among the ten largest Japanese global brands in market value. Lexus is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. Operational centers are located in Brussels, Belgium and Torrance, California, USA. Lexus originated from a clandestine flagship sedan project, code-named F1, which began in 1983 and culminated in the launch of the original Lexus LS in 1989. Subsequently, the division added sedan, coupé, convertible, and SUV models. Until 2005 Lexus did not exist as a brand in its home market and all vehicles marketed internationally as Lexus from 1989-2005 were released in Japan under the Toyota marque and an equivalent model name. In 2005, a hybrid version of the RX crossover debuted, and additional hybrid models later joined the division's lineup. In 2007, Lexus launched its own F marque performance division with the debut of the IS F sport sedan, followed by the LFA supercar in 2009.
- 21Pagani Automobili S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of sports cars and carbon fibre. The company was founded in 1992 by the Argentinian Horacio Pagani, and is based in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Modena, Italy.
- Volkswagen Group and its subsidiaries, is a German multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. It designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines, and turbomachinery and offers related services including financing, leasing and fleet management. In 2012, it produced the second-largest number of motor vehicles of any company in the world, behind Toyota and ahead of General Motors. It has maintained the largest market share in Europe for over two decades. As of 2013, it ranked ninth in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies. In 2014, it has reached production output of 10.14 million Volkswagen Group sells passenger cars under the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen marques; motorcycles under the Ducati brand; and commercial vehicles under the MAN, Scania, Neoplan and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marques. It is divided into two primary divisions, the Automotive Division and the Financial Services Division, and has approximately 340 subsidiary companies.
- 23Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The Maserati tagline is "Luxury, sports and style cast in exclusive cars", and the brand's mission statement is to "Build ultra-luxury performance automobiles with timeless Italian style, accommodating bespoke interiors, and effortless, signature sounding power". The company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari S.p.A., which is also owned by Fiat, but more recently it has become part of the sports car group including Alfa Romeo and Abarth. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranTurismo Convertible, and has confirmed that it will be offering the Maserati Levante, the first Maserati SUV, in 2015, and the Maserati Alfieri, a new 2+2 in 2016. Maserati is placing a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally.
- Nissan Motor Company Ltd, usually shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. Since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan Alliance, a partnership between Nissan and French automaker Renault. As of 2013, Renault holds a 43.4% voting stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds a 15% non-voting stake in Renault. Carlos Ghosn serves as CEO of both companies. Nissan Motor sells its cars under the Nissan, Infiniti, Datsun, and NISMO brands. Nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world behind Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Ford in 2013. Taken together, the Renault–Nissan Alliance would be the world’s fourth largest automaker. Nissan is the leading Japanese brand in China, Russia and Mexico.
- Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian luxury car manufacturer. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911. It was owned by Italian state holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale between 1932 and 1986, when it became a part of the Fiat group. In February 2007 the Alfa Romeo brand was transformed into the current Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A., a subsidiary of Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A.. The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq in 1906 by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, with some Italian investors. In late 1909, the Italian Darracq cars were selling slowly and the Italian partners of the company hired Giuseppe Merosi for designing new cars. On June 24, 1910, a new company was founded named A.L.F.A., initially still in partnership with Darracq. The first non-Darracq car produced by the company was the 1910 24 HP, designed by Merosi. A.L.F.A. ventured into motor racing, with drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24 hp models.
- Tesla Motors, Inc. is an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. Tesla Motors is a public company that trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol TSLA. In the first quarter of 2013, Tesla posted profits for the first time in its history. Tesla first gained widespread attention following their production of the Tesla Roadster, the first fully electric sports car. The company's second vehicle is the Model S, a fully electric luxury sedan, and its next two vehicles are the Models X and 3. Tesla also markets electric powertrain components, including lithium-ion battery packs to automakers including Daimler and Toyota. Its CEO, Elon Musk, has said that he envisions Tesla Motors as an independent automaker, aimed at eventually offering electric cars at prices affordable to the average consumer. Pricing for the Tesla Model 3 is expected to start at US$35,000 before any government incentives and deliveries are expected to begin by 2017.
- Volvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish premium automobile manufacturer, headquartered in the VAK building in Gothenburg, It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China. Volvo Car Corporation was founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden, originally as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange in 1935, SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo Cars was owned by AB Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company as part of its Premier Automotive Group. Geely Holding Group then acquired Volvo Cars from Ford in 2010. Volvo Cars manufactures and markets sport utility vehicles, station wagons, sedans, compact executive sedans, and coupes. With approximately 2,300 local dealers from around 100 national sales companies worldwide, Volvo Cars' largest markets are the United States, Sweden, China and Belgium. In 2011, Volvo Cars recorded global sales of 449,255 cars, an increase of 20.3% compared to 2010.
- Chevrolet is a make of automobile produced by Chevrolet Motor Car Company and General Motors(GM).
- 29Dodge is a minimalist arcade-style game originally made for Ludum Dare 26. Your aim is simple: To dodge the incoming squares for as long as possible.
- Land Rover is a brand of the British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover, with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, was acquired by Tata Motors, an Indian company, in 2008. The Land Rover name was originally used by the Rover Company for one specific vehicle model, named simply the Land Rover, launched by Rover in 1948. Over the following years it developed into a marque encompassing a range of four-wheel-drive models, including the Defender, Discovery, Freelander, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque. Land Rovers are currently assembled in the company's Halewood and Solihull plants, with research and development taking place at JLR's Gaydon and Whitley engineering centres. Land Rover sold 194,000 vehicles worldwide in 2009. Although the brand originates from the original 1948 model, Land Rover as a company has only existed since 1978. Prior to this, it was a product line of the Rover Company which was subsequently absorbed into the Rover-Triumph division of the British Leyland Motor Corporation following Leyland Motor Corporation’s takeover of Rover in 1967.
- 31Cadillac, formally the Cadillac Motor Car Division, is a division of U.S.-based General Motors that markets luxury vehicles worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States, Canada, and China, but Cadillac-branded vehicles are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Historically, Cadillac automobiles have always held a place at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2012, Cadillac's U.S. sales were 149,782 vehicles. Cadillac is among the oldest automobile brands in the world, second in America only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902, almost 9 years before Chevrolet. It was named after Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms. By the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909 Cadillac had already established itself as one of America's premier luxury carmakers. The complete interchangeability of its precision parts had allowed it to lay the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles.
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Acura
a japanese car brand that started in 1986
Acura is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Honda. The brand was launched in the United States and Canada in March 1986, marketing luxury, performance, and high-performance vehicles. It was introduced to Hong Kong in 1991, Mexico in 2004, China in 2006, and Russia in 2014. Honda's plan to introduce Acura to the Japanese domestic market in 2008 was delayed, due to economic reasons, and later withheld as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. Acura holds the distinction of being the first Japanese automotive luxury brand. The creation of Acura coincided with the introduction of a JDM Honda dealership sales channel, called Honda Clio, which sold luxury vehicles, joining previously established Honda Verno, followed by Honda Primo the following year. In its first few years of existence, Acura was among the best-selling luxury marques in the US. Though sales were down in the mid-to-late 1990s, the brand experienced a revival in the early 2000s, due to drastic redesigns and the introductions of new models. Since its inception, Acura has been a trailblazer in the automotive industry. - 33
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a make of automobile produced by Volkswagen. - 34Jeep is a brand of American automobiles that is a division of FCA US LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The former Chrysler Corporation acquired the Jeep brand, along with the remaining assets of its owner American Motors, in 1987. Jeep's current product range consists solely of sport utility vehicles and off-road vehicles, but has also included pickup trucks in the past. The original Jeep was the prototype Bantam BRC. Willys MB Jeeps went into production in 1941 specifically for the military, arguably making them the oldest four-wheel drive mass-production vehicles now known as SUVs. The Jeep became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the United States Army and the Allies during World War II, as well as the postwar period. The term became common worldwide in the wake of the war. Doug Stewart notes: The spartan, cramped, and unstintingly functional jeep became the ubiquitous World War II four-wheeled personification of Yankee ingenuity and cocky, can-do determination." The first civilian models were produced in 1945. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover.
- Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars, famous for its Esprit, Elan, Europa and Elise sports cars and for the highly successful Team Lotus in Formula 1. Lotus Cars is based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics. It also owns the engineering consultancy Lotus Engineering, which has facilities in the United Kingdom, United States, Malaysia and China. Lotus is owned by DRB-HICOM through its subsidiary Proton, which acquired it following the bankruptcy of former owner Romano Artioli in 1996.
- 36Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles now includes over 230 dealers in over 15 countries. The Infiniti marque was formally introduced to its homeland of Japan in 2013, with the first Japanese-market Infiniti vehicle to be a hybrid-powered variant of the Infiniti Q50 to go on sale in 2014, with gasoline-powered versions of the Q50 retaining the historic Nissan Skyline name. However, this does not mark the first introduction of the Infiniti brand to Japan, with the original Q45 being sold as the Nissan Infiniti Q45 in Japan from November 1989 until 1996. Infiniti models have direct equivalents in the Japanese domestic market Nissan lineup. The Infiniti G as the Nissan Skyline sedan and coupe and previously the Nissan Primera, Infiniti M as the Nissan Fuga and previously the Nissan Leopard, Infiniti EX as the Nissan Skyline crossover, and Infiniti Q45 as the Nissan Cima. The Infiniti FX has no Nissan equivalent and is not sold in Japan.
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Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had been founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Daimler had died in 1900, and Maybach had left in 1907. Both companies continued to manufacture their separate automobile and internal combustion engine marques until, on 28 June 1926, when Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft formally merged - becoming Daimler-Benz AG - and agreed that thereafter, all of the factories would use the brand name of "Mercedes-Benz" on their automobiles. The inclusion of the name Mercedes in the new brand name honored the most important model series of DMG automobiles, the Mercedes series, which were designed and built by Wilhelm Maybach. They derived their name from a 1900 engine named after the daughter of Emil Jellinek. - 38
Buick
Buick, formally the Buick Motor Division, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors. For much of its existence in the North American market, Buick has been marketed as a premium automobile brand, selling entry-level luxury vehicles positioned above its mainstream GM stablemate Chevrolet, and below the flagship Cadillac division. Buick holds the distinction of being the oldest active American marque of automobile, and the original Buick Motor Company was a cornerstone of the establishment of General Motors in 1908. Before the establishment of General Motors, GM founder William C. Durant previously served as Buick's general manager, while his friend Louis Chevrolet worked as a racing driver for Buick and later learned automotive design working there. In 1939 Buick also pioneered the use of turn signals, which did not appear on other car brands until almost a decade later. Since the discontinuation of Saturn in 2009, GM has positioned Buick to be an analogue to its German Opel brand, sharing models and development. Buick-branded vehicles are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China. - 39Hyundai is make of automobile produced by Hyundai Group.
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Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobiles produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Olds Motor Vehicle Co. was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. It produced over 35 million vehicles, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory alone, and was noted for its testing of groundbreaking technology and designs, most notably the "Rocket V8" engine. In 1985, over 1 million Oldsmobiles were sold, but by the 1990s the division was tasked with competing with import brands. When it was shut down in 2004, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque, and one of the oldest in the world, after Peugeot, MAN, and Tatra. - Deere & Company, is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural, construction, and forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains used in heavy equipment, and lawn care equipment. In 2014, it was listed as 80th in the Fortune 500 America's ranking and was ranked 307th in the Fortune Global 500 ranking in 2013. John Deere also provides financial services and other related activities. Deere is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols DE. The company's slogan is "Nothing Runs Like a Deere", and its logo is a leaping deer, with the words 'JOHN DEERE' under it. The logo of the leaping deer has been used by this company for over 135 years. Over the years, the logo has had minor changes and pieces removed. Some of the older style logos have the deer leaping over a log. The company uses different logo colors for agricultural vs. construction products. The company's agricultural products are identifiable by a distinctive shade of green paint, augmented by yellow trim.
- Kia Motors Corporation, headquartered in Seoul, is South Korea's second-largest automobile manufacturer, following the Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 2.7 million vehicles in 2012 and almost 2.75 million vehicles in 2013. As of December 2013, the company is 33.88% owned by the Hyundai Motor Company.
- Caterpillar Inc., is an American corporation which designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery, engines, financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. With more than US$89 billion in assets, Caterpillar was ranked number one in its industry and number 44 overall in the 2009 Fortune 500. Caterpillar stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Caterpillar Inc. traces its origins to the 1925 merger of the Holt Manufacturing Company and the C. L. Best Tractor Company, creating a new entity, the California based Caterpillar Tractor Company. In 1986, the company re-organized itself as a Delaware corporation under the current name, Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar's headquarters are located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Caterpillar machinery is recognizable by its trademark "Caterpillar Yellow" livery and the "CAT" logo.
- Mack Trucks, Inc., is an American truck–manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1907 and adopted its present name in 1922. Mack Trucks is a subsidiary of AB Volvo which purchased Mack along with Renault Trucks in 2000. After being founded in Brooklyn, New York, the company's headquarters were in Allentown, Pennsylvania, from 1905 to 2009, when they moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. The entire line of Mack products is still produced in Macungie, Pennsylvania, with additional assembly plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Australia, and Venezuela.
- 45Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a strong rally heritage and is noted for using letters of the Greek alphabet for its model names. In June 2014 it was announced that outside Italy, Lancia would cease to exist; only within Italy will the Lancia models still be offered.
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Hudson Motor Car Company
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mercury
Mercury was a car brand of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's DeSoto division. From 1945 to 2011, Mercury was half of the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford; however, for the 1958-1960 model years, the Lincoln-Mercury division was known as Lincoln-Edsel-Mercury with the inclusion of the Edsel brand. Through rebadging, the majority of Mercury models were based on Ford platforms. The name "Mercury" is derived from the messenger of the gods of Roman mythology, and during its early years, the Mercury brand was known for performance, which was briefly revived in 2003 with the Mercury Marauder. The brand was sold in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Middle East. In 1999, the Mercury brand was dropped in Canada, although the Grand Marquis was still marketed there wearing a Mercury badge through 2007. The Mercury brand was phased out in 2011 as Ford Motor Company refocused its marketing and engineering efforts on the Ford and Lincoln brands. - 48
Bobcat Company
Bobcat Company is an American-based manufacturer of farm and construction equipment, part of Doosan Group of South Korea. Its American headquarters is in West Fargo, North Dakota, USA. Its European headquarters is in Waterloo, Belgium. It was a subsidiary of the Ingersoll Rand Company from 1995 until July 2007 when it was sold for US$4.9 billion to Doosan Infracore. The company sells skid steer loaders, compact excavators, compact utility vehicles, compact tractors and other small hydraulic equipment under the Bobcat brand name. It is one of the few major manufacturing companies operating in North Dakota. - 49
Pontiac
Pontiac was an American automobile brand established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by General Motors. Pontiac was marketed as the performance division of General Motors for many years, specializing in mainstream performance vehicles. Pontiac was relatively more popular in Canada, where for much of its history it was marketed as a low-priced vehicle. On April 27, 2009, amid ongoing financial problems and restructuring efforts, GM announced it would discontinue the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010 and focus on four core brands in North America: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. The last Pontiacs were built in December 2009. - 50
Nismo
Nismo is the motorsports and performance division of Nissan. Formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departments, Nismo cars have participated in JSPC, Formula Nippon, JTCC, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona. They currently participate in the Super GT and FIA GT Championship, and in 2015 will compete alongside Audi, Toyota and Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class, with the new Nissan GT-R LM NISMO. - 51Alpine was a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars that used rear-mounted Renault engines. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally a Dieppe garage proprietor, who began to achieve considerable competition success in one of the few French cars produced just after the Second World War. The company was bought in 1973 by Renault.
- The Lincoln Motor Company is a division of the Ford Motor Company that sells luxury vehicles under the Lincoln brand. While currently sold primarily in North America and the Middle East, Ford has introduced the Lincoln brand to China in November 2014. Lincoln vehicles are also officially sold in South Korea and Japan. Founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland, Lincoln has been a subsidiary of Ford since 1922. The current Lincoln model range in North America consists of two sedans, three crossover utility vehicles, and two sport utility vehicles. Lincoln also sells two vehicles specifically for limousine/livery use, both based on the MKT.
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DeLorean Motor Company
The original Delorean Motor Company is an American automobile manufacturer formed by automobile industry executive John DeLorean in 1975. It is remembered for the one model it produced — the distinctive stainless steel DeLorean DMC-12 sports car featuring gull-wing doors—and for its brief and turbulent history, ending in receivership and bankruptcy in 1982. Near the end, in a desperate attempt to raise the funds his company needed to survive, John DeLorean was filmed appearing to accept money to take part in drug trafficking, but was subsequently acquitted of charges brought against him on the basis of entrapment. The DeLorean DMC-12 featured memorably in the Back to the Future movie trilogy, as the model of car made into a time machine by eccentric scientist Doc Brown, although the company had ceased to exist before the first movie was made. In 1995, Liverpool-born mechanic Stephen Wynne started a separate company using the "DeLorean Motor Company" name and shortly thereafter acquired the remaining parts inventory and the stylized "DMC" logo trademark of DeLorean Motor Company. - The Mitsubishi Group is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies covering a range of businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark, and legacy. The Mitsubishi group of companies form a loose entity, the Mitsubishi Keiretsu, which is often referenced in Japanese and US media and official reports; in general these companies all descend from the zaibatsu of the same name. The top 25 companies are also members of the Mitsubishi Kin'yōkai, or "Friday Club", and meet monthly. The Mitsubishi.com Committee facilitate communication and access to the Mitsubishi brand through a portal web site.
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Mini
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Renault
Renault S.A. is a French multinational vehicle manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches and autorail vehicles. According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, in 2013 Renault was the eleventh biggest automaker in the world by production volume, with 50.5% of sales coming outside of Europe. The Renault–Nissan Alliance is the fourth-largest automotive group. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault marque and subsidiaries, Automobile Dacia from Romania, and Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea. Renault has a 43.4% controlling stake in Nissan of Japan, a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ of Russia, and a 1.55% stake in Daimler AG of Germany. Renault also owns subsidiaries RCI Banque, Renault Retail Group and Motrio. Renault Trucks, previously known as Renault Véhicules Industriels, has been part of Volvo Trucks since 2001. Renault Agriculture became 100% owned by German agricultural equipment manufacturer CLAAS in 2008. - 57
DeSoto
The DeSoto was DeSoto's only model in 1961, and their last vehicle. It was available as a two- or four-door hardtop. It was essentially a Chrysler Newport with a DeSoto front end. Base power came from the 361 2bbl. It sold only about 3,000 units. For 1962, the Dodge 880 essentially replaced the DeSoto DeSoto as the bridge gap between the Dodge Polara and Chrysler Newport. - 58GMC, formally the GMC Division of General Motors LLC, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors that primarily focuses on trucks and utility vehicles. GMC sells pickup and commercial trucks, buses, vans, military vehicles, and sport utility vehicles marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors. In January 2007, GMC was GM's second-largest-selling North American vehicle division after Chevrolet, ahead of Pontiac.
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Packard Motor Car Company
Packard was an American luxury automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Detroit-built Packard in 1956, when they built the Packard Predictor, their last concept car.
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Datsun
Datsun is an automobile brand owned by the Nissan Motor Company. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. In 1986, Nissan phased out the Datsun name but re-launched it in 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. In 1931, DAT Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car "Datson", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name "Datson" was changed to "Datsun", because "son" also means "loss" in Japanese and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986. The Datsun name is most famous for the 510, Fairlady roadsters, and later the Fairlady coupes. On 20 March 2012, it was announced that Nissan would revive the brand for use in Indonesia, South Africa, India, and Russia. - 61
Peugeot
Peugeot is a French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion trademark. Armand Peugeot built the concern's first car, an unreliable steam tricycle, in collaboration with Leon Serpollet in 1889; this was followed in 1890 by an internal combustion car with a Panhard-Daimler engine. Due to family discord, Armand Peugeot in 1896 founded the Société des Automobiles Peugeot. The Peugeot company and family are originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and Peugeot Museum there. In February 2014, the shareholders agreed to a recapitalisation plan, in which Dongfeng Motors and the French government each bought a 14% stake in the company. Peugeot has received many international awards for its vehicles, including four European Car of the Year awards. In 2013, Peugeot ranked at the second lowest average CO₂ emissions among generalist brands in Europe, with 114.9g CO₂/km. Peugeot has an impressive history in motor sport for more than a century. - Pininfarina S.p.A. is an independent Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy. It was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. Pininfarina is employed by a wide variety of automobile manufactures to design vehicles. These firms have included long-established customers such as Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Fiat, GM, Lancia, and Maserati, to emerging companies in the Asian market with Chinese manufactures like AviChina, Chery, Changfeng, Brilliance, and JAC and Korean manufacturers Daewoo and Hyundai. Since the 1980s Pininfarina has also designed high-speed trains, buses, trams, rolling stocks, automated light rail cars, people movers, yachts, airplanes, and private jets. With the 1986 creation of Pininfarina Extra they have consulted on industrial design, interior design, architecture, and graphic design. Pininfarina was run by Battista's son Sergio Pininfarina until 2001, then his grandson Andrea Pininfarina until his death in 2008. After Andrea's death his younger brother Paolo Pininfarina was appointed as CEO.
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Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the military. Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. Over the next 50 years, the company established an enviable reputation for quality and reliability. After years of financial problems, in 1954 the company merged with luxury carmaker Packard to form Studebaker-Packard Corporation. However, Studebaker's financial problems were worse than the Packard executives thought. The Packard marque was phased out and the company returned to the Studebaker Corporation name in 1962. - 64GM Holden Ltd, commonly designated Holden, is an Australian automaker that operates in Australasia and is headquartered in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer in South Australia. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors in 1931. After becoming a subsidiary of GM, the company was named General Motors-Holden's Ltd, becoming Holden Ltd in 1998—the current name was adopted in 2005. Holden is responsible for GM's vehicle operations in Australasia, and on their behalf, held partial ownership of GM Daewoo in South Korea between 2002 and 2009. Holden has offered a broad range of locally produced vehicles, supplemented by imported GM models. Holden has offered the following badge engineered models in sharing arrangements: Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota and Vauxhall Motors. As of 2013, the vehicle lineup consists of models from GM Korea, GM Thailand, GM in the US, and self-developed Commodore, Caprice, and Ute. Holden also distributed the European Opel brand in Australia in 2012 until the brand's Australian demise in mid-2013.
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Alpina
Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany selling their own cars, based on BMW cars. Alpina works closely with BMW and their processes are integrated into BMW's production lines, thus Alpina is recognized by the German Ministry of Transport as an automobile manufacturer, in contrast to other performance specialists which are aftermarket tuners. For instance, the Alpina B7 is produced at the same assembly line in Dingolfing, Germany, along with BMW's own 7-Series. For the 2011 model year, the B7's twin-turbo 4.4-litre BMW V8 is assembled by hand at Alpina's facility in Buchloe, Germany, before being shipped to BMW for installation, and the assembled vehicle is then sent back to Alpina for finishing touches. The firm was founded in 1965 by Burkard Bovensiepen, a member of the Bovensiepen family of industrialists. - 66
Zenvo
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Plymouth
The most famous model is the SuperbirdPlymouth a fost o marcă de automobile din Statele Unite ale Americi, produsă de Chrysler Corporation. - Saab Automobile AB is a Swedish premium car manufacturer. It was formed in 1945 when Saab AB began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 the parent company merged with Scania-Vabis, and ten years later the Saab 900 was launched, in time becoming Saab's best-selling model. In the mid-1980s the new Saab 9000 model also appeared. In 1989 the automobile division of Saab-Scania was restructured into an independent company, Saab Automobile AB. The American manufacturer General Motors took 50% ownership with an investment of US$600 million, and then in 2000 exercised its option to acquire the remaining 50% for a further US$125 million; so turning Saab Automobile into a wholly owned GM subsidiary. In 2010 GM sold Saab Automobile AB to the Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars N.V. After struggling to avoid insolvency throughout 2011, the company petitioned for bankruptcy following the failure of a Chinese consortium to complete a purchase of the company; the purchase had been blocked by the former owner GM, which opposed the transfer of technology and production rights to a Chinese company.
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Skoda Auto Slovakia
- Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan, which specializes in manufacturing automobiles, four-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines. In 2011, Suzuki was thought to be the tenth biggest automaker by production worldwide. Suzuki has over 45,000 employees worldwide and has about 35 main production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributors in 192 countries.
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American Motors Corporation
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history. George W. Mason was the architect of the merger to reap benefits from the strengths of the two firms to battle the much larger "Big Three" automakers. Within a year, George W. Romney, future governor of Michigan, took over, reorganizing the company and focusing AMC's future on a new small car line. By the end of 1957 the original Nash and Hudson brands were completely phased out. The company struggled at first, but Rambler sales took off. A Rambler won the 1959 Mobil Economy Run and by 1960, was the third most popular brand of automobile in the United States, behind Ford and Chevrolet. After two model years of only producing compact cars, AMC focused back to larger and more profitable cars like the Ambassador line from the perceived negative of the Rambler's economy car image. In the face of deteriorating financial and market positions, Roy D. Chapin, Jr., took charge to revitalize the company, and designer Richard A. - 72
Triumph
Triumph-Werke Nürnberg AG or TWN, was German bicycle and motorcycle company. In 1886, Siegfried Bettmann founded the Triumph bicycle factory in Coventry, England, and in 1896 he founded a second bicycle factory in his native Nuremberg, Germany, under the same Triumph name. Both factories branched out into making motorcycles: the Coventry factory in 1902 and the Nuremberg factory in 1903. In its early decades the Nuremberg factory produced models with the same 499 cc and 545 cc four-stroke engines as its sister plant in Coventry. Confusion between motorcycles produced by the Coventry and Nuremberg Triumph companies led to the latter's products being renamed "Orial" for certain export markets. However in the 1920s there was already an Orial motorcycle maker in Lyon, France, so the Nuremberg motorcycles were renamed again as "TWN", standing for Triumph Werke Nürnberg. After 1913 the English and German factories diverged, with the Nuremberg works making motorcycles with 248 cc and 269 cc two-stroke engines. After the Second World War Triumph made successful models including the 200 cc Cornet split single two-stroke and the split-single 1 cylinder 350 cc Boss. - 73
MG Cars
The MG Car Company Limited was a British sports car manufacturer begun in the 1920s as a sales promotion sideline within W R Morris's Oxford city retail sales and service business by the business's manager, Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés. Kimber was an employee of William Morris; MG are the initials for Morris Garages. The MG business was Morris's personal property until 1 July 1935 when he sold MG to his holding company, Morris Motors Limited, restructuring his holdings before issuing shares in Morris Motors to the public in 1936. MG underwent many changes in ownership starting with Morris merging with Austin in The British Motor Corporation Limited in 1952. MG became the MG Division of BMC in 1967 and so a component of the 1968 merger that created British Leyland Motor Corporation. By the start of 2000 MG was part of the MG Rover Group which entered receivership in 2005 and the assets were purchased by its new Chinese owner Nanjing Automobile Group for GB£53 million, with production starting again in 2007 in China, and limited production in the UK as MG Motor. - 74Chrysler is an American car brand and the longstanding premium marque of automaker FCA US LLC. Before the 2014 creation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles by the merger of Fiat and Chrysler, FCA US was known as Chrysler Group LLC, named after its founder Walter Chrysler.
- 75Adam Opel AG is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Germany, and a subsidiary of General Motors Company. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes Opel-branded passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and vehicle parts for distribution in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Opel designed and manufactured vehicles are also sold under the Buick brand in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China, the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand and the Vauxhall brand in the United Kingdom. Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded by Adam Opel in 1862. The company began manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899. Opel became a share-limited company in 1929; United States-based General Motors took a majority stake in Opel that same year. General Motors assumed full control in 1931 and today Adam Opel AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Company. Although Adam Opel AG continues to be a share-limited company, shares of the company are not publicly listed.
- 76Fiat S.p.A., or Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, was an Italian holding company whose original and core activities were in the automotive industry, and that was succeeded by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. The Fiat Group contained many brands such as Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, the Chrysler Group, and many more. On 29 January 2014, it was announced that Fiat S.p.A. was to be merged into a new Netherlands-based holding company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, took place before the end of 2014. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles became the new owner of Fiat Group. On 1 August 2014, Fiat S.p.A. received necessary shareholder approval to proceed with the merger. The merger became effective 12 October 2014. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors, including Giovanni Agnelli. During its more than century-long history, Fiat has also manufactured railway engines and carriages, military vehicles, farm tractors, and aircraft. In 2013, Fiat was the second largest European automaker by volumes produced, and the seventh in the world ahead of Honda, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Suzuki, Renault, and Daimler AG.
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TVR
TVR is an independent British manufacturer of sports cars. The company manufactured lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and was, at one time, the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering a diverse range of coupés and convertibles. TVR has not been manufacturing any cars since 2006. In June 2013 it was reported TVR had been sold to a syndicate of British businessmen led by Les Edgar. The TVR website has been updated with the 'classic' TVR logo and wording stating that TVR will soon return to being a car manufacturer. - 78
Mitsuoka Motors
Mitsuoka Motors is a small Japanese automobile company. It is noted for building cars with conventional styling, some of which imitate British vehicles of the 1950s and 1960s. It is primarily a coachbuilder, taking production cars, like the Nissan March, and replacing the bodywork with its own custom designs. It has also produced a sports car, the Orochi. Mitsuoka Motors is also the principal distributor of retro-classic TD2000 roadster in Japan. Mitsuoka is the youngest Japanese auto manufacturer, and bases its current cars on Nissans and Infinitis. Also, it built just one ute version of the Viewt, which is in the U.K. It also makes its cars look like different cars. - 79
Gumpert
Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH is a German supercar manufacturing company headquartered in Altenburg. Roland Gumpert, the founder and owner of Gumpert, once held the position of Director of Audi Sport. Under his management, Audi won a total of 25 World Rally Championship races and 4 World Rally Championship titles. - Automobile Dacia S.A. is a Romanian car manufacturer that takes its name from the historic region that constitutes much of present-day Romania. Now a subsidiary of the French car manufacturer Renault, the company was initially founded in 1966. It is Romania's largest exporter, constituting 7.9% of Romania's total exports in 2011. The Dacia manufacturing plant in Mioveni, Argeș County is currently Europe's fifth biggest car manufacturing facility in terms of volume produced with a total of 412,718 units delivered in 2013.
