Largest car manufacturers and car brands

Which country produces the most cars? And which car manufacturer is the largest? The answer to these and other questions can be found in this article!

Largest car producing countries

Which country do you think produces the most cars? The United States, surely, or maybe Japan or Germany? Guess again, because the correct answer is China. That country produced more cars in 2017 than the three countries mentioned above combined!

Not surprising, since Volkswagen, the second largest car brand in the world, has many of its cars made in China. But China also has its own new car brands, of which Changan is the most popular. Changan also produces Mazdas for the Chinese market.

Largest car manufacturers

However, we do not find China in the top 10 of largest car manufacturers. The top 10 is dominated by Japan, the US and Europe. The world's largest car manufacturer is Toyota, with an annual production of 10,2 million (2016) vehicles.

The difference with the production of Volkswagen Group – number 2 on the list – is marginal. Note that Audi, Seat and Škoda also belong to the VW family. This in addition to the luxury brands Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Porsche, which contribute relatively little to the production in quantitative terms.

At number 3 is Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), which produces not only Hyundais but also Kias. HMG is closely followed by number 4 General Motors (GM), manufacturer of typical American brands such as Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. At number 5 is Ford, which – apart from some luxury Lincolns – mainly produces Fords.

At numbers 6 and 7 in the top 10 we find two more Japanese manufacturers: Nissan Motor Company (brands: Nissan, Infinity, Datsun) and Honda Motor Company (Honda).

At 8 is the holding Fiat Chrysler, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands for tax reasons. Alfa-Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Maserati, Jeep and RAM are the brands of this group. Fiat Chrysler also has a majority interest in Ferrari.

At 9 is Groupe Renault, which has a large stake in Nissan, which in turn has a (smaller) stake in Renault. Renault and Nissan each also have a small stake in Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) and vice versa.

The top 10 is completed by Groupe PSA, with the brands Peugeot, Citroën and Opel.

You see: the top 10 is connected by alliances!