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.

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.

citroen

Citroën

*Citroën (French pronunciation: ?[si.t??.'?n]) is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group since 1976. It was founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën (1878–1935).

*In 1934, Citroën secured its reputation for innovation with the Traction Avant, not only the world's first mass-produced front-wheel drive car, but also one of the first cars to feature a unitary-type body, with no chassis frame holding the mechanical components.

*In 1954 Citroën produced the world's first hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system, then in 1955 the revolutionary DS, the first mass production car with modern disc brakes.[7] In 1967, Citroën introduced swiveling headlights in several models, allowing for greater visibility on winding roads. Citroën cars have received various international and national-level awards, including three European Car of the Year.

*Citroën has a successful history in motorsport, and is the only automobile manufacturer to have won three different official championships from the International Automobile Federation: the World Rally Raid Championship (five times), the World Rally Championship (eight times ), and the World Touring Car Championship.

*Citroën has been selling vehicles in China since 1984, and it represents a major market for the brand today, largely via the Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën joint venture. In 2014, when PSA Peugeot Citroën ran into severe financial difficulties, the Dongfeng Motor Corporation took an ownership stake.

*The brand celebrated its 90th Anniversary in 2009. The Citroën's C_42 showroom, on the Champs Elysées in Paris, is a place where Citroën organises some exhibitions, shows its cars and concept cars.

KTM

*KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian motorcycle manufacturer owned by CROSS Industries AG and Bajaj Auto Limited. KTM was formed in 1981 but traces its foundation as early as in 1934. In 1992 the company was spun off from its parent company KTM when it ran into financial troubles. KTM was split into four companies, all of which shared the same "KTM" branding, and in present have many more subsidiaries with the same branding. However, KTM-Sportmotorcycle is most commonly associated with the KTM brand, because it still continues the flagship business of its parent company.

*KTM is known for its two-stroke and four-stroke off-road motorcycles though in recent years it has expanded into street motorcycle production and developing sports cars - One of the rarer types of KTM sports cars is called the X-Bow with a max top speed of 217 km/h (134.9 mph).