Global surprises: Who really owns who in the car industry
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In the very early days of the car industry all the manufacturers were of course independent from each other, but that was never going to last. Gradually, companies started buying rival companies, and after a while large conglomerates were created.
What follows is the current state of play in the motor business, showing which famous brands are now under the control of others.
Quite a few of the real owners of your favourite cars will surprise you!
ABARTH - owned by Fiat Chrysler
Founded in 1949, Abarth was originally a manufacturer of racing cars and performance parts. In 1971 founder Carlo Abarth sold his company to Fiat, which used it as its competition department for several years. It now produces more powerful versions of road-going Fiats under its own branding.
ALFA ROMEO - owned by Fiat Chrysler
Alfa Romeo’s history dates back to the early years of the 20th century. Despite a very strong record in motorsport (Alfas won the first two F1 World Championships in 1950 and 1951) the company was in severe financial trouble by the mid 1980s, when it became part of the Fiat empire.
AUDI - owned by Volkswagen
Audi was one of four manufacturers merged to form the Auto Union in 1932. Volkswagen bought half of the business in 1964 and re-introduced the Audi name. The brand is now part of the very large Volkswagen Group.
BENTLEY - owned by Volkswagen
Bentley survived for just twelve years as an independent manufacturer before going into receivership in 1931. It was taken over by Rolls-Royce, which was itself bought by Vickers in 1980. Vickers sold the combined company to Volkswagen, and after a slightly confusing period around the turn of the century Volkswagen sold Rolls-Royce to BMW but retained Bentley as part of the VW Group.
CITROEN / DS - owned by Peugeot
After a period of ownership by the Michelin tyre company, Citroen was bought over by Peugeot in 1976, leading to the formation of the business now known as Groupe PSA. DS models launched from 2010 onwards were at first badged as Citroens but have had their own separate identity since 2015.
DACIA - owned by Renault
Dacia was created in Romania in the 1960s to build Renault models under licence. Renault bought the company in 1999 and now uses it at its budget brand, producing stand-alone Dacia models which nevertheless feature a lot of Renault technology.
FERRARI - owned by Fiat
Six years after a planned buyout by Ford failed to materialise, Fiat acquired a 50% stake in Ferrari in 1969, eventually increasing its shareholding to 90%. In 2014 the company now known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced its intention to separate Ferrari from the main group. When the deal was completed in early 2016, the Agnelli family which founded Fiat became Ferrari’s largest shareholder.
FIAT - owned by Fiat Chrysler
Fiat’s current owner is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, a company created in 2014 after the Italian business took on the ailing American manufacturer Chrysler. Other brands in this very large group include Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Maserati.
HYUNDAI
Hyundai Motor Company is the largest member of the younger Hyundai Motor Group, created after Hyundai acquired a controlling stake in fellow South Korean manufacturer Kia. HMG was itself part of an even larger conglomerate, consisting entirely of companies founded by Chung Ju-yung, which was split up into separate operations early in the 21st century.
INFINITI - owned by Nissan
The Infiniti brand was originally devised as a way for Nissan to sell premium cars in the United States in the 1990s, and is therefore similar to Honda’s Acura and Toyota’s Lexus. Nissan, which expanded Infiniti’s field of operations into Europe in 2008, is still the whole owner.
JAGUAR - owned by Tata
Past owners of Jaguar have included British Motor Holdings (later incorporated into British Leyland) and more recently Ford. Along with Land Rover, it was sold by Ford to the Indian company Tata Motors in 2008. Tata Motors is itself part of the colossal Tata Group, whose many other concerns include hotels, satellite broadcasting and the manufacture of Tetley tea bags.
JEEP - owned by Fiat Chrysler
Jeep was owned by several American companies before being taken over by Chrysler in 1987. Although very much an American brand, it has been connected with both Renault and Mercedes in the past, and is now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
KIA - owned by Hyundai
After surviving as an independent company for over fifty years (though not always building cars), Kia went bankrupt in the Asian financial crisis of 1997. It was saved by the Hyundai Motor Company, which bought a controlling interest the following year and still has it.
LAMBORGHINI - owned by Volkswagen
Briefly owned by Chrysler in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lamborghini is now part of the Volkswagen Group, being specifically under the control of Audi since 1998.
LAND ROVER - owned by Tata
After periods of ownership by first British Leyland (and other related companies) and then BMW and Ford, Land Rover passed, along with Jaguar, into the hands of the Indian industrial giant Tata in 2008. Although they have been part of the same group in the past, it is only since the Tata purchase that the two brands have been combined into one company, known as Jaguar Land Rover.
LEXUS - owned by Toyota
Lexus is entirely owned by Toyota, and serves as that company’s luxury brand. It is therefore similar to Acura and Infiniti, part of Honda and Nissan respectively, though it has a much longer history in the UK.
LOTUS owned by Proton
Malaysian car manufacturer Proton bought Lotus from the Italian businessman Romano Artioli (who at the time also owned Bugatti) in 1993, and still has it now. Oddly, although Lotus continues to sell cars in the UK, Proton no longer does.
MASERATI - owned by Fiat Chrysler
Maserati has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiat (now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) since 1993, though it has occupied several positions within that group. The Fiat connection makes more immediate sense than the one with Citroen, which surprisingly enough owned Maserati between 1968 and 1975.
McLAREN - owned by McLaren
McLaren Automotive is the road car manufacturing company within the Woking-based McLaren Technology Group conglomerate. The others are McLaren Racing (the Formula 1 team) and McLaren Applied Technologies.
MERCEDES - owned by Daimler
Mercedes-Benz, to give it its full title, is the largest and best-known automotive brand in the Daimler corporation, based in Stuttgart. Daimler also owns Mercedes-AMG, smart and several commercial vehicle manufacturers.
MG - owned by SAIC
MG has been in Chinese hands since the collapse of the MG Rover company in 2005. Nanjing Automobile outbid Shanghai-based SAIC for the formerly British brand, but was bought by SAIC shortly afterwards and has been a subsidiary of it ever since.
MINI - owned by BMW
In 2000, BMW sold off the MG, Rover and Land Rover brands from what was then known as the Rover Group, but retained the rights to build the then new MINI, which had been under development in the UK since the mid 90s. MINI remains one of BMW’s three brands, along with BMW itself and Rolls-Royce.
MITSUBISHI - owned by Nissan Renault
Mitsubishi Motors is the car-building part of the Mitsubishi Group, which is also involved in nuclear power and banking, among other activities. In October 2016, Nissan became the largest shareholder with a 34% stake, thereby bringing Mitsubishi into the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
NISSAN - owned by Renault-Nissan
After several years of major financial difficulty, Nissan entered into an alliance with Renault in 1999. The two companies are technically separate but share technology, working practices and a boss, CEO Carlos Ghosn. Nissan has a smaller stake in Renault than vice versa and can therefore be considered the junior partner.
PORSCHE - owned by Volkswagen
As a car manufacturer, Porsche is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen. However, a majority of Volkswagen Group shares are held by a company owned by the Porsche family.
RENAULT - owned by Renault-Nissan
Once owned by the French government, Renault was privatised in 1996, though France still owns a stake. Renault is now the major player in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has recently been expanded to include Mitsubishi.
ROLLS-ROYCE - owned by BMW
Rolls-Royce Motors, which at the time included Bentley, was bought by Volkswagen in 1998 after it had outbid BMW. Five years later, BMW took over the Rolls-Royce part of the operation, leaving Bentley with VW. Rolls-Royce is now, along with MINI, one of BMW’s two subsidiary brands.
SEAT - owned by Volkswagen
Spain’s only major car manufacturer has been part of the Volkswagen Group since 1986. As well as its own products, SEAT sometimes builds cars from other brands in the Group, such as the Audi Q3.
SKODA - owned by Volkswagen
Volkswagen began buying shares in Skoda in 1991, during a period of great change in the former Czechoslovakia, and since 2000 Skoda has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the VW Group.
smart - owned by Daimler
Although the idea of a radical city car was first proposed by the owner of watch manufacturer Swatch, smart is now wholly owned by Daimler, whose motoring brands also include Mercedes-Benz.
SSANGYONG - owned by Mahindra & Mahindra
Though still based in South Korea, as it always has been, SsangYong is now mostly Indian-owned, after Mahindra & Mahindra bought a 70% stake in 2011.
SUBARU - owned by Fuji
Subaru is the car manufacturing arm of Fuji Heavy Industries, which will shortly change its name to Subaru Corporation. Toyota and, to a lesser extent, Suzuki both own shares in FHI.
VAUXHALL - owned by General Motors
Like Ford, Vauxhall is regarded in this country as a British company, but in fact it has been owned by America’s General Motors since 1925. Nowadays it is affiliated with Opel of Germany. The firms collaborate on designing and building cars, which are sold as Vauxhalls in the UK and Opels everywhere else.
VOLVO - owned by Geely
After over seventy years as an entirely Swedish company, Volvo became part of the Ford Premier Automotive Group in 2000. Nine years later, Ford sold Volvo to its current owners, the Chinese company Geely.