Industrial robots welding a car body in the white section of a production line.

The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. In 2006, more than 69 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide.^[1] In 2006 16 million new automobiles were sold at the USA, 15 million in Western Europe, 7 million in China, ^[2] and 2 million in India. In 2007, the markets in Canada, USA, Western Europe and Japan are stagnating, while those in South America (especially Brazil), Eastern Europe (especially Russia), and Asia (South Korea and India) are growing.

World motor vehicle production

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Motor vehicle production (1000 units)
Country																				1000										2000										3000										4000										5000										6000										7000										8000										9000										10000										11000										12000
Japan																																																																																				11596
United States																																																																																				10781
PR China																																																																																				8882
Germany																																																																																		6213 (includes GM Belgium)
South Korea																																																													4086
France																																																		3019
Brazil																																																		2971
Spain																																																	2890
Canada																																														2578
India																																											2307
Mexico																																									2095
UK																																						1750
Russia																																					1660
Italy																																	1284
Thailand																																1238
Turkey																															1099
Iran																														997
Czech Rep.																													939
Belgium																												844
Poland																												785
Reference: World Motor Vehicle Production by Country: 2006–2007. OICA. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.

Company relationships

It is not uncommon for automobile manufacturers to hold stakes in other automobile manufacturers. These ownerships can be explored under the detail for the individual companies.

Notable current relationships include:

• Porsche holds a 20% stake in the Volkswagen Group (30.97% voting rights), as of 2006-12-31.^[3]
• The Renault-Nissan alliance involves two global companies linked by cross-shareholding, with Renault holding 44.3% of Nissan shares, and Nissan holding 15% of Renault shares.
• Ford holds a 33.9% stake in Mazda.^[4] and an 8.3% share in Aston Martin.
• Hyundai Motor Co. holds a 38.67% stake in Kia Motors.^[5]
• Daimler AG holds a 19.9% stake in Chrysler Holding LLC.^[6]
• General Motors still holds a 3% stake in Suzuki. Suzuki is also partner with GM in GMDAT and CAMI.^[7]
• Toyota holds a 51% stake in Daihatsu hence having a controlling interest in the company, and 16.5% in Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company of Subaru.^[8]

World's largest vehicle manufacturing groups (by volume)

The table below gives the world's largest twenty motor vehicle manufacturing groups, along with their marques, classified as divisions and subsidiary companies. The table is ranked by parent group production volumes, using the latest OICA data with the largest producer appearing at the top of the table.

Marque	Country of origin	Ownership	Markets
1. Toyota Motor Corporation ( Japan)
Daihatsu		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Hino		Subsidiary	Asia Pacific, Canada, South America
Lexus		Division	Global, except South America, but Chile.
Scion		Division	United States
Toyota		Division	Global
2. General Motors Corporation ( United States)
Buick		Division	North America, China
Cadillac		Division	Global
Chevrolet		Division	Global
Daewoo		Subsidiary	Asia, Europe, South America
GMC		Division	North America, Middle East
Pontiac		Division	North America
Holden		Subsidiary	Asia Pacific, Middle East
Hummer		Division	Global
Opel		Subsidiary	Continental Europe, South Africa
Saturn		Subsidiary	North America
Saab		Subsidiary	Global
Vauxhall		Subsidiary	United Kingdom
3. Ford Motor Company ( United States)
Ford		Division	Global
Lincoln		Division	North America, Middle East
Mercury		Division	North America, Middle East
Volvo Cars		Subsidiary	Global
Troller		Subsidiary	South America
4. Volkswagen AG ( Germany)
Audi		Subsidiary	Global
Bentley		Subsidiary	Global
Bugatti		Subsidiary	Global
Lamborghini		Subsidiary	Global
Scania		Subsidiary	Global
SEAT		Subsidiary	Europe, Latin America, South Africa
Škoda		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Volkswagen		Division	Global
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles		Division	Global
5. Honda Motor Company ( Japan)
Acura		Division	North America, China
Honda		Division	Global
6. PSA Peugeot Citroën ( France
Citroën		Division	Global, except North America
Peugeot		Division	Global, except United States and Canada
7. Nissan Motors ( Japan)
Infiniti		Division	North America, Middle East, Taiwan, Korea, Western Europe
Nissan		Division	Global
8. Chrysler LLC ( United States)
Chrysler		Division	Global
Dodge		Division	Global
Jeep		Division	Global
9. Renault S.A. ( France)
Dacia		Subsidiary	Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa
Renault		Division	Global, except United States and Canada
Samsung		Subsidiary	Asia, South America
10. Hyundai Motor Company ( South Korea)
Hyundai		Division	Global
11. Fiat S.p.A. ( Italy)
Abarth		Subsidiary	Global, except United States and Canada
Alfa Romeo		Subsidiary	Global, except United States and Canada
Ferrari		Subsidiary	Global
Fiat		Division	Global, except United States and Canada
Iveco		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Maserati		Subsidiary	Global
Lancia		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
12. Suzuki Motor Corporation ( Japan)
Pak Suzuki		Subsidiary	Pakistan, Middle East
Maruti Suzuki		Subsidiary	India, Middle East, South America
Suzuki		Division	Global
13. Daimler AG ( Germany)
Mercedes-Benz		Division	Global
Mercedes-AMG		Division	Global
Maybach		Division	Global
Smart		Division	Western Europe, Southeast Asia, North America, South Africa
Mitsubishi Fuso		Subsidiary	Global
Freightliner		Subsidiary	North America
14. Mazda Motor Corporation ( Japan)
Mazda		Division[9]	Global
15. Kia Motors ( South Korea)
Kia		Division[10]	Global
16. BMW AG ( Germany)
BMW		Division[11]	Global
MINI		Division	Global
Rolls-Royce		Subsidiary	Global
17. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation ( Japan)
Mitsubishi		Division[12]	Global
18. AvtoVAZ ( Russia)
Lada		Division	Russia, Finland, Sweden
VAZ		Division[13]	Russia, Eastern Europe
19. Fuji Heavy Industries ( Japan)
Subaru		Division[14]	Global
20. Tata Motors Limited ( India)
Hispano		Subsidiary	Europe
Jaguar*		Subsidiary	Global
Land Rover*		Subsidiary	Global
Tata		Division[15]	India, South Africa
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle		Subsidiary	South Korea

^*On 2008-03-26, Ford announced that it has agreed to sell its Jaguar Land Rover operations (which includes the Jaguar and Land Rover marques) to Tata Motors, the sale is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2008.^[16]

See also

• Automobile
• Automobile aftermarket
• Automotive design
• Automotive engineering
• Bus
• Car model
• Effects of the automobile on societies
• Emission standard
• Motor vehicle manufacturers by country (category)
• Synovate Motoresearch ^[17]
• Truck
• Vehicle regulation

References

External links

• Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers at Wikipedia
• Automotive Industry Analysis
• The British Library - finding information on the automotive industry (UK bias)
• The history of the automobile industry in USA
• Car makes of the world, 1894—present
• Automotive history and photos
• Automaker Rankings 2007: The Environmental Performance of Car Companies
• New Car Manufacturers Search
• Computer Systems for Vehicle Distribution and Aftersales Support