mini mini

Mini Cooper

The Mini (marque), which includes a number of different models produced by BMW since 2000. A number of different models have cars with the "Mini Cooper" title, including the Mini Hatch, the Mini Convertible, the Mini Clubman, the Mini Countryman, the Mini Coupé, the Mini Roadster, and the Mini Paceman

A Mini model called the "Mini Cooper" was made by the British Motor Corporation from 1961 to 1971, then from 1990 to 2000. John Cooper, owner of the Cooper Car Company and designer and builder of Formula One and rally cars, saw the potential of the original Mini for competition, and worked with Issigonis, the designer of the original Mini.

Maserati

Maserati (Italian pronunciation: [mazeˈraːti]) is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna.[3] The Maserati tagline is "Luxury, sports and style cast in exclusive cars", and the brand's mission statement is to "Build ultra-luxury performance automobiles with timeless Italian style, accommodating bespoke interiors, and effortless, signature sounding power".

The company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian–American car giant Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and FCA's Italian predecessor Fiat S.p.A. since 1993. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari S.p.A., which was also owned by FCA until being spun off in 2015, but more recently it has become part of the sports car group including Alfa Romeo and Abarth (see section below). In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models.[6] In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranTurismo Convertible, and has confirmed that it will be offering the Maserati Levante, the first Maserati SUV, in 2016, and the Maserati Alfieri, a new 2+2 in 2016. Maserati is placing a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally.

Nissan

Nissan Motor Company Ltd (Japanese: 日産自動車株式会社 Hepburn: Nissan Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha?), usually shortened to Nissan (/ˈniːsɑːn/ or UK /ˈnɪsæn/; Japanese: [nisːaɴ]), is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. Nissan Motor sells its cars under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands with in-house performance tuning products labelled Nismo.

Since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan Alliance, a partnership between Nissan and French automaker Renault. As of 2013, Renault holds a 43.4% voting stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds a 15% non-voting stake in Renault. Carlos Ghosn serves as CEO of both companies.

Nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world behind Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Ford in 2013. 

Taken together, the Renault–Nissan Alliance would be the world’s fourth largest automaker. Nissan is the leading Japanese brand in China, Russia and Mexico.

Nissan is the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, with global sales of more than 275,000 all-electric vehicles by mid-December 2016.[6] The top selling vehicle of the carmaker's line-up is the Nissan Leaf all-electric car, the world's top selling highway-capable plug-in electric car in history. More than 240,000 Leafs have been sold worldwide through September 2016.

Spyker

Spyker N.V. For details about the Spyker car and aircraft manufacturer in operation from 1880 to 1926, see Spyker.

This article is about the Spyker sports car marque founded in 1999. For details about the holding company, see Spyker Cars (/ˈspaɪkər/, Dutch pronunciation: [ˈspɛi̯kər]) is a Dutch sports car marque. The modern Spyker Cars holds the legal rights to the brand name. The company's motto is "Nulla tenaci invia est via", which is Latin for "For the tenacious, no road is impassable". The marque's logo displays the rotary engine of an airplane, a reference to the historic Spyker company which manufactured aircraft. In an attempt to save Spyker from bankruptcy, Swedish Automobile in September 2011, announced the immediate sale of Spyker to American private equity and hedge fund North Street Capital for 32€ million (US$41 million). On December 18, 2014, Spyker confirmed that it deliberately had gone bankrupt, hoping to restructure its finances and getting back on its feet. However, the bankruptcy declaration was reverted early 2015 and the company announced to continue with the production of sports cars.

Bmw 

bmw

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (German pronunciation: [ˈbaɪ̯ʁɪʃə mɔˈtʰɔʁn̩ ˈvɛɐ̯kə] .

 German for Bavarian Motor Works), usually known under its abbreviation BMW (German pronunciation: [ˈbeːˈʔɛmˈveː], is a German luxury vehicle, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. Headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. BMW owns Mini cars and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcars under the BMW Motorsport division and motorcycles under BMW Motorrad, and plug-in electric cars under the BMW i sub-brand and the "iPerformance" model designation within the regular BMW lineup. It is one of the best-selling luxury automakers in the world.
The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

BMW was established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft-engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty.
 The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production as the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted in 1923, followed by automobiles in 1928–29.

The first car which BMW successfully produced and the car which launched BMW on the road to automobile production was the Dixi, based on the Austin 7 and licensed from the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham, England.

BMW's first significant aircraft engine, and commercial product of any sort, was the BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled engine of 1918, known for good fuel economy and high-altitude performance. With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. The factory in Munich made ample use of forced labour: foreign civilians, prisoners of war and inmates of the concentration camp Dachau . Among its successful World War II engine designs were the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet, which powered the tiny, 1944–1945–era jet-powered "emergency fighter", the Heinkel He 162 Spatz. The BMW 003 jet engine was first tested as a prime power plant in the first prototype of the Messerschmitt Me 262, the Me 262 V1, but in 1942 tests the BMW prototype engines failed on takeoff with only the standby Junkers Jumo 210 nose-mounted piston engine powering it to a safe landing. The few Me 262 A-1b test examples built used the more developed version of the 003 jet, recording an official top speed of 800 km/h (497 mph). The first-ever four-engine jet aircraft ever flown were the sixth and eighth prototypes of the Arado Ar 234 jet reconnaissance-bomber, which used BMW 003 jets for power. Through 1944 the 003's reliability improved, making it a suitable power plant for air frame designs competing for the Jägernotprogramm's light fighter production contract. which was won by the Heinkel He 162 Spatz design. The BMW 003 aviation turbojet was also under consideration as the basic starting point for a pioneering turboshaft powerplant for German armored fighting vehicles in 1944–45, as the GT 101. Towards the end of the Third Reich, BMW developed some military aircraft projects for the Luftwaffe, the BMW Strahlbomber, the BMW Schnellbomber and the BMW Strahljäger, but none of them were built.

[more detail]

By the year 1958, the automotive division of BMW was in financial difficulties and a shareholders meeting was held to decide whether to go into liquidation or find an alternative. It was decided to carry on by trying to cash in on the current economy car boom exploited so successfully by German ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel. BMW bought the rights to manufacture the Italian Iso Isetta. BMW's version of the tiny cars were to be powered by a modified form of BMW's motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and helped the company get back on its feet.

Since 1959, the controlling majority shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft has been the Quandt family, which owns about 46% of the stock. The rest is in public float.

BMW acquired the Hans Glas company based in Dingolfing, Germany, in 1966. Glas vehicles were briefly badged as BMW until the company was fully absorbed. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to gain access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications, although some saw Glas' Dingolfing plant as another incentive. However, this factory was outmoded and BMW's biggest immediate gain was, according to themselves, a stock of highly qualified engineers and other personnel. The Glas factories continued to build a limited number of their existing models, while adding the manufacture of BMW front and rear axles until they could be closer incorporated into BMW.

In 1992, BMW acquired a large stake in California-based industrial design studio DesignworksUSA, which they fully acquired in 1995. In 1994, BMW bought the British Rover Group (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris), and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was incurring huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new Mini, which was launched in 2001.

Chief designer Chris Bangle announced his departure from BMW in February 2009, after serving on the design team for nearly seventeen years. He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, Bangle's former right-hand man. Bangle was known for his radical designs such as the 2002 7-Series and the 2002 Z4. In July 2007, the production rights for Husqvarna Motorcycles was purchased by BMW for a reported 93 million euros. BMW Motorrad plans to continue operating Husqvarna Motorcycles as a separate enterprise. All development, sales and production activities, as well as the current workforce, have remained in place at its present location at Varese.

In June 2012, BMW was listed as the #1 most reputable company in the world by Forbes.com. Rankings are based upon aspects such as "people's willingness to buy, recommend, work for, and invest in a company is driven 60% by their perceptions of the company and only 40% by their perceptions of their products."

Fiat S.P.A

Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (FIAT, Italian: Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, lit. 'Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin'), is the largest automobile manufacturer in Italy, a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A. which is part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. was formed in January 2007 when Fiat reorganized its automobile business, and traces its history back to 1899 when the first Fiat automobile was produced.

Fiat's main market is Europe, mainly focused in Italy. Historically successful in citycars and supermini sector, currently Fiat has a range of models focused on those two segments (in 2011, those accounted for the 84% of its sales). Fiat does not currently offer any large family car, nor an executive car - these market segments have, to some extent been covered by the Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands, which Fiat also owns.

Fiat's share of the European market shrank from 9.4 per cent in 2000 to 5.8 per cent in the summer of 2004. At this point Sergio Marchionne was appointed as Fiat's chief executive. By March 2009 their market share had expanded to 9.1 per cent.

Fiat's built their five-story Lingotto plant in 1915 through 1918, at the time it was Europe's largest car manufacturing plant. Later the Mirafiori plant was built, also in Turin. To prepare for production of the all-new Fiat 128, Fiat opened their Rivalta plant in October 1968. Until the 128 entered production, the plant was used to build sports versions of the 850 and 124 as well as parts for the Fiat Dino.

Fiat's 2014 range of passenger car engines comprised eleven units, eight petrols and three diesels. Their current range of models is the following:

City car: Fiat 500, Fiat Panda

Supermini: Fiat Punto

Compact car: Fiat Tipo

Mini MPV: Fiat 500L

Large MPV: Fiat Freemont (rebadged Dodge Journey)

Mini SUV: Fiat 500X

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz (German pronunciation: [mɛʁˈtseːdəsˌbɛnts]) is a global automobile manufacturer and a division of the German company Daimler AG. The brand is known for luxury vehicles, buses, coaches, and trucks. The headquarters of Mercedes-Benz are in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The name first appeared in 1926 under Daimler-Benz, but traces its origins to Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes and to Karl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first gasoline-powered automobile. Mercedes-Benz's slogan is "The best or nothing." Mercedes-Benz is one of the most recognized automotive brands worldwide.

History

Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz's creation of the first petrol-powered car, the Benz Patent Motorwagen, financed by Bertha Benz[2] and patented in January 1886,[3] and Gottlieb Daimler and engineer Wilhelm Maybach's conversion of a stagecoach by the addition of a petrol engine later that year. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. (Daimler Motors Corporation). Emil Jellinek, an Austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with DMG created the trademark in 1902, naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company.[3][4] On 28 June 1926, Mercedes Benz was formed with the merger of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler's two companies.

Throughout the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced the 770 model, a car that was popular during Germany's Nazi period. Adolf Hitler was known to have driven these cars during his time in power, with bulletproof windshields.[5] Most of the surviving models have been sold at auctions to private buyers. One of them is currently on display at the War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. The pontiff's Popemobile has often been sourced from Mercedes-Benz.[6]In 1944, 46,000 forced laborers were used in Daimler-Benz's factories to bolster Nazi war efforts. The company later paid $12 million in reparations to the laborers' families.[7]Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that later became common in other vehicles.[8] Mercedes-Benz is one of the best-known and established automotive brands in the world.

For information relating to the famous three-pointed star, see under the title Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft including the merger into Daimler-Benz.

Renault

Groupe Renault (French: [ɡʁup ʁəˈno]) is a French multinationalautomobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches and autorail vehicles.

According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, in 2013 Renault was the eleventh biggest automaker in the world by production volume,  with 50.5% of sales coming outside of Europe. The Renault–Nissan Alliance is the fourth-largest automotive group.

Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault marque and subsidiaries, Automobile Dacia from Romania, and Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea. Renault has a 43.4% controlling stake in Nissan of Japan, a 37% indirectly-owned stake in AvtoVAZ of Russia, and a 1.55% stake in Daimler AG of Germany (since 2012, Renault manufactures engines for the Daimler's Mercedes A Class and B Class cars ). Renault also owns subsidiaries RCI Banque (automotive financing), Renault Retail Group (automotive distribution) and Motrio (automotive parts). Renault has various joint ventures, including Oyak-Renault (Turkey), Renault Pars (Iran). Carlos Ghosn is the current chairman and CEO. The French government owns a 19.73% share of Renault as of April 2015.

Renault Trucks, previously known as Renault Véhicules Industriels, has been part of Volvo Trucks since 2001. Renault Agriculture became 100% owned by German agricultural equipment manufacturer CLAAS in 2008.

Together Renault and Nissan are investing 4€ billion (billion 5.16 US$) in eight electric vehicles over three to four years beginning in 2011. In 2013, new Renault vehicles had the lowest average CO2 emissions among generalist brands in Europe, with 110.1g/km.

Renault is known for its role in motor sport, particularly rallying, Formula 1 and Formula E. Its early work on mathematical curve modeling for car bodies is important in the history of computer graphics.

Daewoo

Daewoo ("Dae" Hangul: ?. Korean for "Great" and "Woo" Hangul: ?. Korean the first name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-jung) or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol (conglomerate).

Daewoo ("Dae" Hangul: ?. Korean for "Great" and "Woo" Hangul: ?. Korean the first name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-jung) or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol (conglomerate).

It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999. Prior to the Asian financial crisis, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in Korea after Hyundai Group, followed by LG Group and Samsung. There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survive today as independent companies.

Corporations

There were about 20 divisions in the Daewoo Group.

Daewoo Group had under its umbrella several major corporations:

Daewoo Bus, is a manufacturer of buses. headquartered in Busan, South Korea, established in 2002. These buses are primarily used for public transportation

Daewoo Motors, the motor vehicles division (sub-branch Daewoo Automotive Components Co. Ltd., Daewoo Bus Co., Ltd., Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd.)

Daewoo Motor Sales, an auto sales company sold Daewoo but also GM cars and others in Korea (Sub-branch: Architectural Iaan Div., SAA-Seoul Auto Auction)

Daewoo Electronics, a strong force both internationally and in Korea (sub-branch Daewoo Electronic Components Co. Ltd, Daewoo Electric Motor Industries Ltd. Orion Electric Co. Ltd.)

Daewoo Precision Industries produced small calibre firearms and auto parts. It was spun off in February 2002 and relisted on the Korean stock-market in March 2002. It was renamed S&T Daewoo Co. Ltd in September 2006, and then S&T Motiv Co. LTD in March 2012.

Infiniti

Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles now includes over 230 dealers in over 15 countries.

The Infiniti marque was formally introduced to its homeland of Japan in 2013, with the first Japanese-market Infiniti vehicle to be a hybrid-powered variant of the Infiniti Q50 to go on sale in 2014, with gasoline-powered versions of the Q50 retaining the historic Nissan Skyline name.[3] However, this does not mark the first introduction of the Infiniti brand to Japan, with the original Q45 being sold as the Nissan Infiniti Q45 in Japan from November 1989 until 1996.[citation needed]

Infiniti models have direct equivalents in the Japanese domestic market Nissan lineup. The Infiniti G as the Nissan Skyline sedan and coupe and previously the Nissan Primera, Infiniti M as the Nissan Fuga and previously the Nissan Leopard, Infiniti EX as the Nissan Skyline crossover, and Infiniti Q45 as the Nissan Cima. The Infiniti FX has no Nissan equivalent and is not sold in Japan. The Skyline and Cima were luxury vehicles in Japan in earlier forms, and were originally exclusive to Japanese Nissan dealership network called Nissan Prince Shop, then later called Nissan Red Stage until the Japanese dealership network was disbanded.

In 2012, Infiniti moved its global headquarters from the Nissan corporate building in Yokohama and incorporated in Hong Kong as Infiniti Global Limited, with Carlos Ghosn intending for Infiniti to have a greater focus on the burgeoning luxury market in mainland China as it forecast the country to become the largest luxury car market. Johan de Nysschen was appointed to head the Infiniti division in 2012.
De Nysschen left the company as of August 2014 to become CEO of Cadillac. Infiniti Chairman Andy Palmer assumed de Nysschen's responsibilities.
 Nissan appointed Roland Krüger as president of Infiniti after the chairman of the marque, Andy Palmer, resigned to join Aston Martin in September 2014.

In mid-2013 Infiniti announced their Q30 Concept car would get its world premiere at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, a move which will see Infiniti start an aggressive strategy to extend the Infiniti brand into new premium segments. In 2013, Infiniti's model designation will change to the coupes and sedans starting with the letter Q (SUVs and crossovers will start with the letters QX) and a number reflecting the model's place in the brand lineup. For instance, the M sedan will become the Q70 while the G sedan will be replaced with the Q50; meanwhile, the QX56 will become the QX80 while the EX will become the QX50.

With its QX60 crossover (formerly known as JX35) Infiniti began to produce vehicle outside Japan. In 2014, it is expected to start producing two models in Xiangyang, China, a plant operated by Nissan's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor. It is also expanding in Sunderland, England, to produce a new compact car named Q30 in 2015.

Infiniti was a minor sponsor for the 'Where Are We Going, Dad?', or '???' in Chinese (Pinyin: Bàbaqùna'er), a popular Chinese television series, in 2013. It was also a major sponsor for the second season of ' Where Are We Going, Dad? ' in 2014.

Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation (Japanese: ?????????? Hepburn: Toyota Jidosha KK?, IPA: [to?jota], /t??'o?t?/) is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In March 2014 the multinational corporation consisted of 338,875 employees worldwide and, as of February 2016, was the 13th-largest company in the world by revenue. Toyota was the largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 (by production) ahead of the Volkswagen Group and General Motors.[8] In July of that year, the company reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle. Toyota is the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year. It did so in 2012 according to OICA, and in 2013 according to company data. As of July 2014, Toyota was the largest listed company in Japan by market capitalization (worth more than twice as much as #2-ranked SoftBank) and by revenue.

Toyota is the world's market leader in sales of hybrid electric vehicles, and one of the largest companies to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles across the globe. Cumulative global sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid passenger car models passed the 9 million milestone in April 2016. Its Prius family is the world's top selling hybrid nameplate with almost 5.7 million units sold worldwide as of 30 April 2016.

The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937, as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under five brands, including the Toyota brand, Hino, Lexus, Ranz, and Daihatsu. It also holds a 16.66% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, a 5.9% stake in Isuzu, a 3.58% stake in the Yamaha Motor Company,[16] and a 0.27% stake in Tesla, as well as joint-ventures with two in China (GAC Toyota and Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor), one in India (Toyota Kirloskar), one in the Czech Republic (TPCA), along with several "nonautomotive" companies. TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.

ford

Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company (commonly referred to simply as Ford) is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer, Troller, and Australian performance car manufacturer FPV. In the past it has also produced tractors and automotive components. Ford owns a 2.1% stake in Mazda of Japan, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom, and a 49% stake in Jiangling of China. It also has a number of joint-ventures, one in China (Changan Ford), one in Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), one in Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), one in Turkey (Ford Otosan), and one in Russia (Ford Sollers). It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family, although they have minority ownership (but majority of the voting power).[5][4]

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines; by 1914 these methods were known around the world as Fordism. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010.[6] In 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938.

During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it was close to bankruptcy, but it has since returned to profitability.

Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker (preceded by General Motors) and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2010 vehicle sales.[7] At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe.[8] Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion.[9] In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles[10] and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide.

The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights.

Mitsuoka

*Mitsuoka Motors (?????) is a small Japanese automobile company. It is noted for building

unique cars with unconventional styling, some of which imitate British vehicles of the 1950s and

1960s. It is primarily a coachbuilder, taking production cars, like the Nissan March, and replacing

various aspects of the bodywork with its own custom designs. It has also produced a sports car,

the Orochi. Mitsuoka Motors is also the principal distributor of retro-classic TD2000 roadster in Japan.

Mitsuoka was recognised in 1996 as the 10th Japanese auto manufacturer to be registered in Japan

since Honda in 1963. It bases its current cars on Nissans and other Japanese car manufacturers.

Mitsuoka Motor has a sales outlet in England and is soon[when?] to launch the Mitsuoka

Roadster (Himiko) in the UK which is based on the Mazda Roadster.

GMC

 GMC  (General Motors Truck Company),  formally the GMC Division of General Motors LLC, is a  division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that primarily focuses on  trucks and utility vehicles. GMC sells pickup and commercial trucks, buses, vans, military vehicles,  and sport utility vehicles marketed worldwide by General Motors.

History

*General Motors was founded by William C. Durant on September 16, 1908, as a holding company for Buick. In 1909, GM purchased the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, forming the basis of the General Motors Truck Company, from which the "GMC Truck" brand name was derived. (Rapid was established on December 22, 1901, by Max Grabowsky. The company developed some of the earliest commercial trucks ever designed, and utilized one-cylinder engines.) The Reliance Motor Car Company (another independent manufacturer) was also purchased that same year by GM. Rapid and Reliance were merged in 1911, and in 1912 the marque "GMC Truck" first appeared on vehicles exhibited at the New York International Auto Show. Some 22,000 trucks were produced that year, though GMC's contribution to that total was a mere 372 units. GMC had some currency within GM referring to the corporate parent in general. Later "GMC" would become distinct as a division brand within the corporation, branding trucks and coaches; in contrast, the abbreviation for the overall corporation eventually ended up as "GM".

*GMC maintained three manufacturing locations in Pontiac, Michigan, Oakland, California, and Saint Louis, Missouri.

*In 1916, a GMC Truck crossed the country from Seattle to New York City in thirty days, and in 1926, a 2-ton GMC truck was driven from New York to San Francisco in five days and 30 minutes. During the Second World War, GMC Truck produced 600,000 trucks for use by the United States Armed Forces.

*In 1925, GM purchased a controlling interest in Yellow Coach, a bus manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois which was founded by John D. Hertz. After purchasing the remaining portion in 1943, GM renamed it GM Truck and Coach Division. The Division manufactured interurban coaches until 1980. Transit bus production ended in May 1987. The Canadian plant (in London, Ontario) produced buses from 1962 until July 1987. GM withdrew from the bus and coach market because of increased competition in the late 1970s and 1980s. Rights to the RTS model were sold to Transportation Manufacturing Corporation, while Motor Coach Industries of Canada purchased the Classic design. In 1998, GMC's official branding on vehicles was shortened from "GMC Truck" to simply "GMC".

*In 2002, GMC released a book entitled, GMC: The First 100 Years, a complete history of the company.

GMC currently manufactures SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, light-duty trucks, and medium duty trucks. In the past, GMC also produced fire trucks, ambulances, heavy-duty trucks, military vehicles, motorhomes, and transit buses.

CHEVROLET

Chevrolet

Chevrolet (/??vr?'le?/ shev-r?-lay), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918 and propelled himself back to the GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose," would pick the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929

Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most automotive markets worldwide, with the notable exception of Oceania, where GM is represented by its Australian subsidiary, Holden. In 2005, Chevrolet was relaunched in Europe, primarily selling vehicles built by GM Daewoo of South Korea with the tagline "Daewoo has grown up enough to become Chevrolet", a move rooted in General Motors' attempt to build a global brand around Chevrolet. With the reintroduction of Chevrolet to Europe, GM intended Chevrolet to be a mainstream value brand, while GM's traditional European standard-bearers, Opel of Germany, and Vauxhall of United Kingdom would be moved upmarket. However, GM reversed this move in late 2013, announcing that the brand would be withdrawn from Europe, with the exception of the Camaro and Corvette in 2016. Chevrolet vehicles will continue to be marketed in the CIS states, including Russia. After General Motors fully acquired GM Daewoo in 2011 to create GM Korea, the last usage of the Daewoo automotive brand was discontinued in its native South Korea and succeeded by Chevrolet.

In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the prominence and name recognition of Chevrolet as one of General Motors' global marques, Chevrolet, Chevy or Chev is used at times as a synonym for General Motors or its products, one example being the GM LS1 engine, commonly known by the name or a variant thereof of its progenitor, the Chevrolet small-block engine.

                                                                              Hyundai

For the automobile manufacturer, see Hyundai Motor Company. This article is about the Hyundai chaebol before the completion of its break-up in 2003. For the continuing non-automobile manufacturer, see Hyundai Group.

For other uses, see Hyundai (disambiguation).

Hyundai Group (Hangul: 현대그룹; Hanja: 現代그룹; /ˈhjʌndɛ/) was a multinational chaebol (conglomerate) headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as a construction firm and Chung was directly in control of the company until his death in 2001.

Following the 1997 East Asian financial crisis and Chung's death, Hyundai underwent a major restructuring and break-up, which reduced the Hyundai Group's business to encompass only container shipping services, the manufacturing of elevators, and tourism. Today, most companies bearing the name Hyundai are not legally connected to Hyundai Group. They include Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Department Store Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Hyundai Development Company. However, most of the former subsidiaries of the Hyundai conglomerate continue to be run by relatives of Chung. If these companies were considered as forming a single broad family business, then it would remain the largest company in South Korea with enormous economic and political power in the country.

SKODA

Škoda Auto

Škoda Auto (Czech pronunciation: [ˈʃkoda] ( listen)), more commonly known as Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement. It is headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic.

In 1925 Laurin & Klement was acquired by Škoda Works which itself became state owned during the communist regime. After 1991 it was gradually privatized and in 2000 Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.

Initially, the company was meant to serve the role of the VW Group’s entry brand. Over time, however, the Škoda brand has shifted progressively more upmarket, with most models overlapping with their Volkswagen counterparts on price and features, while eclipsing them on space. Its total global sales reached 1.06 million cars in 2015 and had risen annually by 1.8 percent, profit had risen by 6,5%. In 2015, a corporate strategy was launched to produce an all-electric car by 2020 or 2021 with a range of over 500 kilometres (310 mi), 15-minute charging time, and a cost below comparative combustion-engine vehicles.

Volvo

The Volvo Group (Swedish: Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo) (stylised as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of trucks, buses and construction equipment, Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems and financial services. Although the two firms are still often conflated, Volvo Cars, also based in Gothenburg, has been a totally separate company since it was sold to the Ford Motor Company in 1999. The companies still share the Volvo logo and co-operate in running the Volvo Museum.

Volvo was established in 1915 as a subsidiary of SKF, the ball bearing manufacturer; however the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars consider themselves to have been officially founded on 14 April 1927, when the first car, the Volvo ÖV 4 series, affectionately known as "Jakob", rolled out of the factory in Hisingen, Gothenburg. The building remains (57°42′50″N 11°55′19″E).

Volvo means "I roll" in Latin, conjugated from "volvere", in reference to ball bearings. The brand name Volvo was originally registered as a trademark in May 1911 with the intention to be used for a new series of SKF ball bearings. This idea was only used for a short period and SKF decided to simply use "SKF" as the trademark for all its bearing products.

In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson, an SKF sales manager, and engineer Gustav Larson, the two founders, decided to start construction of a Swedish car. Their vision was to build cars that could withstand the rigors of the country's rough roads and cold temperatures.

AB Volvo began activities on 10 August 1926. After one year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes the firm was ready to commence the car-manufacturing business within the SKF group. AB Volvo was introduced at the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company. Volvo was delisted from NASDAQ in June 2007, but remains listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

                                                                                  SEAT

SEAT, S.A. (Spanish: [ˈse.at], Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo) is a Spanish automobile manufacturer with its head office in Martorell, Spain. It was founded on May 9, 1950, by the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), a state-owned industrial holding company.

It is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of the German Volkswagen Group.

The headquarters of SEAT, S.A. are located at SEAT's industrial complex in Martorell near Barcelona, Spain. By 2000 annual production peaked at over 500,000 units; in total up to 2006, over 16 million cars have been produced including more than 6 million from the Martorell plant, with three-quarters of the annual production being exported to over seventy countries worldwide.

Subaru

Subaru (スバル?) (/ˈsuːbəruː/ or /sᵿbˈɑːruː/; Japanese pronunciation: [sɯ.ba.ɾɯ])[5] is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the twenty-second largest automaker by production worldwide in 2012.

Subaru cars are known for the use of a boxer engine layout in most vehicles above 1500 cc. Most Subaru models have used the Symmetrical All Wheel Drive drive-train layout since 1972. The flat/boxer engine and all-wheel-drive became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets by 1996, and is now standard in most North American market Subaru vehicles. The lone exception is the BRZ, introduced in 2012, which uses the boxer engine but instead uses a rear-wheel-drive structure. Subaru also offers turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the Impreza WRX and the Legacy 2.5GT. The 2.5XT trims of the Outback and Forester also include a turbocharged engine.

In Western markets, the Subaru brand has traditionally been popular among a dedicated core of buyers. Marketing is targeted towards specific niches centered on those who desire the company's signature drive train, in particular the outdoors enthusiast and affordable sports car markets.

Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster M45, or "The Seven Sisters" (one of whom tradition says is invisible – hence only six stars in the Subaru logo), which in turn inspires the logo and alludes to the companies that merged to create FHI.