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.

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.

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).