vLane Blog

Car brands: Who owns what

From Banovsky, Featured Contributor
Posted on October 23, 2009

Filed under Future, Feature, WTF, Goodyear, manufacturers, 2009, Original

With all this global automotive industry turmoil, it seems as if vehicle brands are trading hands like poker chips. How will you know if you're buying a British car…if it's owned by an Indian automaker?

Here's an updated list for the major automotive manufacturers in the world.

Toyota Motor Corporation(Japan)

Toyota also owns: 51 percent of Daihatsu, 20 percent of Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru), and 6 percent of Isuzu

General Motors (U.S.)

Note: due to bankruptcy, US taxpayers now own 60 percent of the "New GM," while the Canadian (Federal) and Ontario (Provincial) governments together have 12 percent. The United Auto Workers' health care trust fund (VEBA) owns 17.5 percent, and the remaining 10 percent is owned by unsecured creditors in the form of bondholders, plus warranties for a further 15 percent.

General Motors also owns: 51 percent of the GM Daewoo partnership. The rest is owned by Korea Development Bank (27.9 percent), Japan’s Suzuki Motor (11.2 percent) and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (10 percent)

Brands General Motors is in the process of phasing out (IE, killing):

Volkswagen AG (Germany)

Volkswagen currently holds 49.9 percent of Porsche, with the rest to be taken over by the end of 2011.

Ford Motor Company (U.S.)

Ford also owns: 33 percent of Mazda, and 8 percent of Aston Martin (the rest of which is owned by a privately held Kuwait investment companies)

Fiat S.p.A. (Italy)

Fiat holds a controlling stake in the following automakers (35 percent), along with UAW VEBA (55 percent), U.S. Government/Canadian Government (10 percent)

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group (South Korea)

Honda Motor Corp Ltd. (Japan)

Nissan Motor Company (Japan)

Renault owns 44 percent of Nissan

Nissan also owns: 15 percent of Renault

PSA Peugeot-Citroen (France)

Renault SA (France)

Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault.

Renault also owns: 44 percent of Nissan, 25 percent of AvtoVAZ

Suzuki Motor Company (Japan)

Suzuki also owns: 54 percent of Maruti Suzuki, 11 percent of GM Daewoo,

Daimler AG (Germany)

BMW Group (Germany)

Mazda Motor Corporation (Japan)

Ford owns 13 percent of Mazda Motor Corporation

Tata Motors Ltd (India)

Fuji Heavy Industries (Japan)

Toyota owns 20 percent of Fuji Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Japan)

Mitsubishi Motors controls about 14 percent of Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors are the largest shareholders in Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi also owns: 13.6 percent of Isuzu.

Koenigsegg (Sweden)

Proton (Malaysia)

Proton also owns: 63.75 percent of Lotus (UK)

AvtoVAZ (Russia)

Renault owns 25 percent of AvtoVAZ.

Isuzu Motors Ltd. (Japan)

13.6 percent of the Isuzu brand is owned by Mitsubishi Corp, and 6 percent is owned by Toyota Corp

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (China)

SAIC also owns: 51 percent of SsangYong Motor Company

Chongqing Changan Automobile Company (China)

Dongfeng Motor Corporation (China)

China FAW Group Corporation (China)

It's difficult to get a clear shot of the First Auto Work brand logos, which include Hongqi, Besturn, Vita and Jiaxing.

Chery Automobile Company (China)

Car companies currently negotiating with buyers

Read More:

• A Front-Wheel-Drive Ferrari
• Hot Cars from Around the World
• Driving the Ford Model T

Banovsky is a featured contributor for vLane.