What Automotive manufacturers Own what Brands?
ou may be surprised at which company owns which make of car! With all the changes in the auto industry it pays to stay up to date.
General Motors Owns:
Buick, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC as they always have, now Saab, Saturn, Hummer, (Soon to be dropped as it can't be sold), Vauxhall, Holden (GMH Australia) as well as Opel. They bought Saab, Opel, and Vauxhall in the 90's. Pontiac is no longer made since Sept 2010. Who knows? They may even survive!
Ford Owns:
Mercury, Lincoln, and Land Rover. They bought Volvo, Jaguar and Aston Martin in the 90's. They sold Aston Martin this year to a Middle eastern car parts company.Jaguar now belongs to Tata Motors. Ford also owns part of Ford Australia of course. Ford is thinning down and could survive as well, especially if it can shed a few more makes and concentrates on it's core business. Ford owned Volvo until today........ when they sold it to a small Chinese car company Geely which I have never heard of before. The good news? They are going to invest 900 million dollars to revive Volvo, and it certainly needs reviving! Volvo has suffered big losses in the last few years.
Daimler Chrysler owns:
Dodge, Mercedes, Chrysler, Jeep, Smart, Plymouth, and Mitsubishi, part of Nissan and Renault. Daimler lost 2.3 billion last year. The smart is a lemon, Chrysler and Renault have made some really bad vehicles, the motor in the scenic being an example. Mercedes are stuck for a decent sedan and have more electronic problems than most. Does not look at all good at this time!
Mazda owns:
Owned partly by Ford who use some of their parts and designs, and making a car that is very close to the Mazda, but often cheaper. Who Knows if they will survive? Their latest products have scrubbed up rather well though, and they could make it through where others falter.
Honda owns:
Honda and makes the Accura. Pretty diverse and solid. Honda will stay.
Toyota owns:
Daihatsu.as well as their own company. Toyota, make Lexus and Scion and are now in more trouble than a skunk in an elevator, Toyota may go under despite it's huge size and popular boring sedans having massive market share. All the more to recall my dear!
Volkswagen owns:
Owned mostly by Porsche Volkswagen makes Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Spyker, Bugatti, and work with Porsche on R&D. Too fat by far with Bentley and other exotics distractions like Bugatti eating up the funds. Slim or die VW!
Porsche owns:
Owns their own company working together with VW.
Porsche is buying VW and already owns about 45% of VW who own Bentley and Lamborghini. (The Lamborghini Gallardo and Bentley Continental Gt was designed after VW bought the two companies.) If I were Porsche I would just stick to making Porsches!
Nissan owns:
Most of Nissan, makes Infiniti and Renault. Nissan owns some of Citroen as well and has just agreed to a three way deal with Daimler Chrysler. They are falling together like a pack of cards, no long term safety here that I can see. Both products are too patchy.
Fiat owns:
Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati. The new Fiat 500 "Bambino" look alike is similar in concept to the BMW mini, but it ain't gonna work guys, you need something sensibly priced in this size car. Yesterday's ideas.
The Alfa is pretty, but no longer the drivers car that it was in it's heyday. The Ferrari and Maserati are dinosaurs to be unless they redirect resources to build cars that can't do 300kph.
How many places in the world can you use any of that horsepower? The ones I see driven could be driven by a lawn mower motor, they're stuck in traffic! Very much inner city rich buyers. Bad strategy.
BMW owns:
BMW. Bought MINI and Rolls Royce. They bought Mini when they decides they wanted to redesign the car which was about a year before the current Mini Cooper came back. BMW still make a very credible although expensive and complex product. Change or die BMW!
(Update) BMW have released the fabulous 1 series with a range of options to make your eyes boggle!Further update. The 1 series is having recalls for a fire hazard caused by potential friction in a seat belt retractor.
Subaru owns:
Owns itself but Toyota owns a percentage of Subaru and may acquire more of it although in this climate Toyota could fall over first. Subaru is still made by Fuji Heavy Industries and quality remains high. Toyota's interest would seem to be a handicap at this time, and unless Subaru can come up with a hot design they may struggle.
Hyundai owns:
Owns KIA. They bought KIA within the last 5 years. Making better vehicles with strong sales for their people movers Hyundai delve in to markets quite successfully mainly on price.
I have yet to be convinced of their longevity without major component rebuilds. Their motors and transmissions need to continue with current improvements. They may survive..
Update: The new models from Hyundai are better built and finished than ever before, and may gain more market share if they can keep the quality up and the price down.
