The Automobile sector is so huge that it’s like a maze. There are plenty of companies but have you ever spared a thought as to the ownership of these brands? Have you ever thought that a few famous brands are owned by other brands too?

Amidst the world of auto manufacturing rivals, various car companies own bits and pieces of one another, while others constantly share parts, platforms and even entire cars.  Here is a chart including almost all the automakers in existence grouped by parent companies.

ASTON MARTIN:

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British Manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Founded in 1913, the company was started by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. The company became associated with luxury grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s. The popularity of this brand began with the launch of James Bond GoldFinger movie in 1964.

1970 did not go really well for Aston martin as it had declared bankruptcy and the ownership was passed on to the Ford Motor Company from 1994 to 2007.

Aston martin has 100% ownership of Lagonda. The company has also signed a deal with Daimier AG to supply new Mercedes-AMG power plants for the next generation line-up.

 

BMW:

Bayrische Motoren Werke AG, pronounced as Bavarian Motor Works is known as BMW or BMW AG. This company is a German Luxury Automobile, Motorcycle and Engine Manufacturing company founded in 1916. The company is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria Germany. The company was established as an aircraft manufacturing firm. Post World War – I in 1918, the company was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of Versailies Armistice treaty. It also shifted to motorcycle production and the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted in 1923 followed by automobiles in 1928-29.

The company made its presence felt in India during 2006 as a sales subsidiary in Gurgaon. The company currently produces different variants of BMW 3 series, 5 Series, 7 Series, X1, X3, Mini Cooper S, Mini Cooper D and mini Countryman.

In terms of ownership, BMW is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and also has BMW Motorrad as well as Plug-in electric cars. The company owns Mini, Riley, Rolls-Royce and Triumph.

Daimler AG:

Another German automotive multinational corporation that is head quartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

This gigantic company owns or has shares in plenty of car, bus, truck and even motorcycle brands including Mercedes benz, Chrysler, Mercedes AMG, Smart Automobile, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, Setra, Bharat Benz, Mitsubishi Fuso, MV Agusta as well as shares in Denza, Kamaz, Beijing Automotive Group, Tata motors and Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Maybach is a relatively recent entrant associated with the Daimler group since 2012. The company clubbed Mercedes-Maybach and introduced the ultra luxury edition of the Mercedes Benz S-Class. If that not all, the company owns Daimler Financial Service Arm too.

Here are the entire brands owned or in tie-up with Daimler AG responsible for the sale of vehicles worldwide:

Mercedes-Benz Cars

Maybach

Mercedes-Benz

Smart

Car 2 Go

Daimler trucks

Freightliner

Mercedes-Benz Truck Group

Mitsubishi Fuso

Thomas Built Buses

Sterling Trucks

Western Star

Bharat Benz

Alliance Truck Parts

Detroit Diesel

Orion Bus Industries

Setra

Mercedes-Benz vans

Mercedes-Benz Bank

Daimler Financial Services

Daimler Truck Financial

Mercedes AMG High Performance Power Trains (Formula 1 racing engine production)

FIAT AUTO:

Fiat is an Italian automaker that is a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles through its subsidiary FCA Italy. This is the largest automobile manufacturer in Italy. This company dates back to 1899 and has plenty of sub brands under it.

The company owns:

Abarth

Alfa Romeo

Autobianchi

Chrysler (in tie-up)

De Soto

Dodge

Ferrari

Fiat

Hudson

Imperial

Innocenti

Jeep

Lancia

Nash

Oltre

Plymouth and

Ram

FORD:

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Michigan that is a suburb of Detroit. Founded by Henry Ford, the company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under Ford Brand and luxury cars under Lincoln Brand. The company also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer, Troller and Australian performance car manufacturer FPV. The company owns a 2.1% stake in mazda of japan, 8% stake in Aston martin and 49% stake in Jiangling of China. The company also has plenty of joint ventures including two in China (Changan Ford mazda as well as Ford Lio-Ho) Auto Alliance in Thailand, Ford Otosan in Turkey and Ford Sollers in Russia. Ford had also owned Jaguar and land Rover that were sold to Tata motors in March 2008. The company owns Volvo too.

 

GENERAL MOTORS:

General Motors Company, commonly known as GM, is an American Multinational Corporation that is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan that designs, manufacturers, markets and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts and sells financial services.

The GMC, after declaring bankruptcy purchased many of the assets of the old GM. The newly formed company then retained its major brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

The company owns smaller sub brands such as:

Baojun

Buick

Cadillac

Chevrolet

Daewoo (no longer functional)

GMC

Holden

Hummer (sold to a Chinese company)

Isuzu

Jiefang

Opel

Pontiac

Saturn

Vauxhall and

Wuling

 

HONDA:

Honda Motor company Ltd is a well known Japanese Public Multinational Corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. The company has been the largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959 as well as the world’s largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines. Honda is the 8^th largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind GM, VW group, Toyota, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, Nissan and PSA Peugeot Citroen. The company also released a dedicated luxury brand named Acura.

The company has also joint ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and Honda HA-420 Honda Jet that began production in 2012.

Honda’s Ventures:

Honda has plenty of other ventures that include;

Power Equipments such as:

Engines

Tiller

Lawn mowers

Riding Mower

Trimmer

Blower

Sprayer

Hedge Trimmer

Snow Thrower

Generator

Welding Power Supply

Pumps

Outboard Engine

Inflatable Boat

Electric 4-wheel scooter as well as

Compact Household Cogeneration Unit.

 

HYUNDAI:

Hyundai Motor Company is a Korean Multinational Automotive manufacturer that is headquarteres in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1967, the company along with its 32.8% owned subsidiary, Kia Motors comprises the Hyundai Motor Group. The company is currently the 4^th largest vehicle manufacturer in the world.

The company owns:

Hyundai and

Kia motors

PROTON:

Proton holdings Berhad is a Malaysian Automobile Manufacturer that is headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor and operates an additional manufacturing plant in Tanjung malim, Perak. Established in 1983, the company is largely a manufacturer of badge-engineered vehicles from Mitsubishi Motors. The company currently owns

Proton and

Lotus brands.

 

RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE:

Renault and Nissan are quite popular names world-wide. These 2 companies form a Franco-Japanese strategic partnership between automobile manufacturers Renault that are based in Paris, France as well as Nissan that is based in Yokohama, Japan. These 2 cars together sell more than 1 in 10 cars worldwide. They have been strategic partners since 1999 and control 8 major brands such as:

Infiniti

Renault

Samsung Motors

Dacia

Datsun

Venucia

Lada as well as

Nissan-Renault.

 

SUZUKI MOTORS:

 

Suzuki Motors is a Japanese Multinational Corporation that is headquartered in Minami-Ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. The company specializes in manufacturing automobiles, 4-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV’s), outboard marine engines and wheel chairs.

The company owns the following subsidiaries:

Maruti Suzuki

Magyar Suzuki

Pak Suzuki Motors

Suzuki Canada

American Suzuki Motor

Suzuki China

Suzuki GB PLC

 

TATA MOTORS:

Tata Motors limited (Formerly TELCO, short for Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company) is an Indian Multinational Automotive manufacturing company that is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company is the world’s 17^th-largest motor vehicle manufacturing company and the 4^th largest truck manufacturer and 2^nd largest bus manufacturer.

The companies owned by this group include:

Jaguar

Land Rover

Range Rover

Daewoo

Tata also has a bus-manufacturing joint venture with marcopolo S.A as well as a joint venture with Fiat Chrysler that manufactures automotive components and Fiat Chrysler and TATA brand vehicles.

TOYOTA:

Japanese automotive manufacturer, Toyota is headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. This company is the 11^th largest company in the world. The company was founded by Kichiro Toyoda in 1937. The company produces vehicles under 5 different brands that include:

Toyota

Hino

Lexus

Ranz and

Scion

Additionally, the company holds a 51.2% stake in Daihatsu and 16.66% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries as well as a 5.9% stake in Isuzu and lastly a 0.27% stake in Tesla. The company has Joint ventures with GAC and Sichuan FAW in china. In India, the company has joint hands with Kirloskar motors.

VOLKSWAGEN:

So named, the people’s car, Volkswagen is a German car manufacturer that is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company is one of the most top-selling cars in the world. The VW group is quite a sought after and a renowned group. This is the world’s second largest automaker in the world behind Toyota.

Interestingly, the Volkswagen group has various prominent sub-brands that make it even more popular. These brands include:

Audi

Bentley

Bugatti

Lamborghini

Porsche and

Volkswagen

 

With such mighty brand names associated with the group, it is certainly an apple of every enthusiast’s eye.

 

Bottom Line:

There are plenty other car manufacturers that are on the verge of development. These aforementioned brand names rule the world’s automotive market. It is certainly a delight to know that there are brands that have sub brands under them. Please share your views on these aforementioned facts.