Car Companies or Company?
In the fast growing automobile market, there are always competition with the rival companies. However, you do not realize that in reality they are actually competing with themselves. I am here to get the record straight and show you the consumer the truth about car companies and their ownerships.
BMW owns
* BMW
* Mini
* Rolls Royce
* Evidence: BMW designed the new Rolls Royce Phantom
DaimlerChrysler owns
* AMC (discontinued)
* DaimlerChrysler
* Dodge
* Eagle (discontinued)
* Hyundai (10% Ownership)
* Jeep
* Maybach
* Mercedes-Benz
* Mitsubishi (34% Ownership and strategic partner)
* Plymouth (discontinued)
* C-Smart
* Evidence: Jeep Cherokee and Mitsubishi Endeavor same platform, 300c Hemi used Benz parts
Fiat owns
* Alfa Romeo
* Ferrari
* Fiat
* Lancia
* Maserati
* Tata (Tata is not owned by Fiat but is a strategic partner)
* Evidence: Ferrari and Maserati dealerships, Tata helps design the Ferrari engines
Ford owns
* Aston Martin
* Ford
* Jaguar
* Land Rover (previously BMW)
* Lincoln
* Mazda (33% ownership)
* Mercury
* Volvo
* Evidence: Ford SUVs and Lincoln SUVs have same platforms, Mazda Tribute, Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape have the same platform, Mercury Sable had a counterpart Ford Sable
Fuji Heavy Industries owns
* Subaru
* Evidence: Using aerospace technology for designing their cars
General Motors owns
* Buick
* Cadillac
* Chevrolet (Chevy)
* Daewoo (45% ownership)
* Fuji Heavy Industries (20% ownership)
* GMC Trucks
* Holden
* Hummer
* Isuzu (60% ownership)
* Oldsmobile (discontinued)
* Opel
* Pontiac
* Saab
* Saturn
* Suzuki
* Vauxhall
* Evidence: GMC Envoy, Chevy Trailblazer, Buick Rainer, Oldsmobile Bravada share the same platform, dealership signs, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe share the same platform, most of the cars in GM are platform cars, shared with all the companies
Honda owns
* Acura
* Honda
* Evidence: Acura MDX and Honda Pilot share the same platform, Acura EL and Honda Civic have the same platform, value of cars in loss per year relatively the same
Hyundai owns
* Hyundai
* KIA
* Evidence: some Hyundai and KIA vehicles share the same engines
Nissan owns
* Infiniti
* Nissan
* Renault (15% ownership)
* Evidence: Infiniti QX56 and Nissan Armada share the same platform, Infiniti M35 is based on the Nissan Altima and Maxima platforms, Infinti G35 Coupe and Nissan 350z share the same platform, dealership signs
PSA Peugeot Citroen owns
* Citroen
* Peugeot
* Evidence: Peugeot 107 and the Citroen C1 share the same platform
Porsche owns no one but Volkswagen's strategic partner (for evidence see Volkswagen)
Toyota owns
* Daihatsu (51% ownership)
* Lexus
* Scion
* Toyota
* Evidence: Toyota Camry shares the platform with the Lexus RX330 and the Lexus GS, Scion is apart of Toyota's dealerships, All Lexus SUVs share Toyota SUV platforms
Volkswagen owns
* Audi
* Bentley
* Bugatti
* Lamborghini
* SEAT
* Skoda
* Volkswagen(VW)
* Evidence: VW Tourage, Audi Allroad, Porsche Cayenne share the same platforms, Adolph Hitler drew the VW Beetle on a napkin and gave it to Fernanad "Porsche" who later created VW
I hope that this list can make you a better consumer. For example, if you looking for a luxury car, look for it's counterpart in another company. This counterpart can be cheaper and still be the same such the Cadillac Escalade and the GMC Yukon, if the Yukon is bought instead of the Escalade, the owner can save $40 000 and still have the same SUV!
In the business world, every single company is merging with another one. It is showing that there is no such thing as an independent company anymore. Porsche, is independent but still has to work with VW in order to still be successful. From the looks of this, it will be quite normal and maybe expected that these 13 companies can soon be a smaller number
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