The major automakers with present presences in the United States are listed below, along with the brands they sell.
BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce are all owned by BMW Group. Smart and Mercedes-Benz are owned by Daimler AG. Lincoln and Ford are owned by Ford Motor Co. Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac all belong to General Motors. Hummer is back as a GMC subsidiary brand. In order to co-develop EVs, GM and Honda have an official collaboration. Acura and Honda are owned by Honda Motor Co. It collaborates with GM. Sony Honda Mobility is the name of the electric vehicle firm they founded with Sony. Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia are all owned by Hyundai Motor Group. Mazda is owned by Mazda Motor Corp. Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Infiniti are all owned by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Following the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A., a new company called Stellantis was created. According to the explanation, the word is derived from the Latin verb “stello,” which means “to dazzle with stars.” Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram are now under Stellantis and are FCA brands that are offered in the United States. Other Stellantis automobile brands include Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall. Subaru is owned by Subaru Corp. Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by Tata Motors. Owned by Tesla. Lexus and Toyota are owned by Toyota Motor Corp. Additionally, it owns stock in Suzuki and Subaru. The automotive brand VinFast, along with VinHomes, VinBigData, VinBioCare, and VinBrain, are all owned by VinGroup. Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scout, and Volkswagen are all brands owned by Volkswagen AG. Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus are all brands owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH).
In This Article...
BMW’s two problems
If you believed that the Mini Cooper was initially a symbol of Britain, you should know that BMW, a German luxury automaker, owns and manufactures Mini automobiles. Following a deal with Volkswagen Group, who now have custody of Bentley, BMW is now the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, another British luxury car brand that attracts attention everywhere it travels.
In 1917, the engine manufacturer Rapp Motorenwerke changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke, and in 1922 it amalgamated with the aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke. It initially began selling aviation engines before extending its manufacture to include motorcycles and cars in the future.
In relation to the Volkswagen group, numerous well-known automobile brands are owned by this German automotive behemoth. Volkswagen currently owns all of Audi, Scania, and Porsche, as well as Skoda Auto, Lamborghini, and Ducati in its entirety. The Volkswagen Group obviously makes great decisions when selecting its auto brands because they can claim to hold some of the best and most recognizable auto brands in the world.
In order to mobilize its populace for the future, the brand needed to have a car for the masses. Only a few of the models were produced before the start of World War II, at which point the factory shifted its focus to producing military vehicles.
Following the war, production of the company’s iconic Beetle began to pick up again, eventually reaching a total of over 21 million. Volkswagen’s corporate headquarters are in Wolfsburg, Germany. These assets are within the corporation’s control:
- Volkswagen
- Bentley
- Audi
- Bugatti
- Porsche
- SEAT
- Lamborghini
- Skoda
- MAN
- Scania
- Ducati
Bentley
Bentley is a brand of Bentley Motors, a British luxury car manufacturer that is a member of the Volkswagen Group in Germany. Since 1998, Bentley has been a part of VW, with its headquarters in Crewe, United Kingdom.
Walter Owen Bentley and his brother Horace Miller Bentley established Bentley in 1909. In 1931, during the Great Depression, the car manufacturer entered receivership and was bought by British Central Equitable Trust, which eventually turned out to be a front for Rolls-Royce.
In order to isolate the production of Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles from the vitally important Rolls-Royce aerospace sector, the British government nationalized Rolls-Royce in 1971 after which Rolls-Royce Motors was established in 1973. Vickers, a multinational engineering company, acquired Rolls-Royce Motors in 1980.
Vickers chose to sell in 1997. Volkswagen AG significantly outbid BMW, with the transaction concluding in 1998. Ferdinand Piech, the head of Volkswagen, believed he had acquired all of the assets of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but the fine print showed that Rolls-Royce plc, the aerospace company, actually owned the Rolls-Royce brand and mark and had only licensed it to the automotive business. Even worse, it then opted to transfer the license to BMW, its business partner in the production of commercial aircraft engines.
Given that BMW provided the engines for the Rolls-Royce Seraph and Bentley Arnage, Volkswagen had little leverage. Volkswagen produced Rolls-Royce vehicles for BMW between 1998 and 2003, when the company had finished developing the brand-new Phantom.
The Bentley Bentayga, its first SUV, the Continental GT, and the Flying Spur are some of its most recent models. Bentley employs certain VW plants across Europe in addition to Crewe, where it assembles the majority of its vehicles.
Here are some of the most notable companies that own ultra-luxury and performance carmakers, including Lamborghini, Volkswagen, Rolls-Royce, and BMW.
- Several of the priciest, most opulent, and most powerful supercars on the market today are produced by subsidiaries of much larger corporations.
- For instance, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Bugatti are all owned by the Volkswagen Group.
- However, only a small number of supercar brands don’t have larger automotive parent corporations.
One might assume there are dozens upon dozens of automobile manufacturers fighting for our business based on the sheer number of various marques on the road.
However, despite their high prices and illustrious names, even the most upscale manufacturers of ultra-luxury and supercars sell the majority of their products through a small number of enormous corporations.
In reality, General Motors is where your car actually originates, whether you purchase it from Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, or Buick. Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Jeeps, and Dodges are all included in the considerably wider category of Fiat Chrysler. Contrary to popular belief, this also applies to the most opulent, costly, and potent cars money can purchase.
Continue reading to find out which bigger firms are the real owners of independent names like Bentley, Bugatti, and Rolls-Royce.
Group
The Group consists of ten brands from five different European nations: Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche, and Ducati. Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, A KODA, SEAT, and CUPRA are also included. The Volkswagen Group also has a large number of additional brands and business divisions, including financial services. Volkswagen Financial Services includes leasing, leasing for customers and dealers, banking, insurance, and fleet management services.
The Volkswagen Group is laying the groundwork for the biggest reform process in its history with its aNEW AUTO – Mobility for Generations to Comea Group strategy and future program: the realignment of one of the best automakers to become a leading provider of sustainable mobility on a global scale. To do so, the Group will change its core automotive business, which will include, among other things, the introduction of another 30 or more fully electric vehicles by 2025 and the expansion of battery technology and autonomous driving as new key businesses.
Volkswagen produces BMW, right?
Volkswagen is now simply a brand collector. The others had been rather uncomplicated, but they were going to compete with BMW, a similarly large German automaker.
Vickers, the company that owns Bentley, stated in 1997 that it would be selling Rolls-Royce Motors. Because BMW provided engines and other components for both Bentley and Rolls-Royce, it made sense for a consumer to choose them. Additionally, BMW and Vickers produced airplane engines. Volkswagen outbid BMW when they offered PS430m, beating over their PS340m bid. However, this did not imply that Volkswagen was the sole owner. Instead, they just purchased the Rolls-Royce grille form and Spirit of Ecstasy trademarks, together with the production and administrative facilities, model names, and vehicle designs. They were denied the right to use the Rolls-Royce name or logo. In charge of them was Rolls-Royce Holdings.
BMW began providing parts for a new line of Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles in 1998. To license the Rolls-Royce name and logo, BMW paid Rolls-Royce PS40 million.
After a protracted legal battle and negotiation process, it was decided that Volkswagen would have access to the names and emblems from 1998 to 2002 while BMW would continue to provide engines and other parts.
Beginning on January 1, 2003, Volkswagen would be the only manufacturer of vehicles bearing the Bentley and BMW/Rolls-Royce brands.
Volkswagen upgraded the Bentley Crewe facility with PS500 million to boost output. Volkswagen reportedly contributed close to $2 billion to Bentley’s resurgence.
To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, Bentley gave her an official State Limousine.
What factory makes BMW engines?
Franklin — As part of a bigger transition to low-emission vehicles, BMW said it will retool its German facilities to make electric cars and components and move combustion engine production to operations in England and Austria.
By the end of 2022, all of BMW’s German plants will produce at least one fully electric vehicle, according to board member Milan Nedeljkovic, who is in charge of production at the company.
With a 400 million euro investment till 2026, BMW’s facility in Munich, Germany, which presently constructs 4-, 6-, 8-, and 12-cylinder combustion engines, will be retooled to produce next-generation electric vehicles.
Eight and twelve cylinder engines will be produced in Hams Hall, England, according to BMW, while other engines will be produced in Steyr, Austria.
The majority of the investments will go to factories in Munich, Dingolfing, and Regensburg in the German state of Bavaria, where BMW is headquartered.
Munich will be home to the production of the fully electric BMW i4 while Regensburg and Dingolfing, Germany, will build the fully electric 5-series and 7-series vehicles.
At its Dingolfing factory, where electric car powertrains are produced, BMW claimed the number of employees will quadruple to 2,000.
The Mini Countryman will be produced by BMW in Leipzig, Germany, in both combustion engine and electric versions, while the Regensburg and Leipzig plants are preparing to produce battery modules.
By the end of the year, BMW plans to reduce costs by 500 million euros, the business added.
As customer interest in electric vehicles grows and governments speed the extinction of the internal combustion engine, car factories all over the world are screaming for investment into the next generation of automobiles.
In an effort to promote low-emission vehicles, Germany presented a $3.56 billion ($3.56 billion) plan on Wednesday, and Britain announced it will prohibit the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans beginning in 2030.
What does BMW mean?
Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH is known as BMW. In 1917, the Munich company Rapp-Motorenwerke was transformed into BMW. Before being refounded as BMW AG in 1922, the firm was incorporated as Knorr-Bremse AG in 1920. It was the successor to the 1916-founded Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG.
Audi – just another Volkswagen?
Yes. The bigger Volkswagen Group, with its headquarters in Germany’s Bavaria, includes Audi. Other car brands owned by the Volkswagen Group include Bugatti, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and others.
Which is better, BMW or an Audi?
It’s difficult to predict who will win the Audi vs. BMW competition. The same target market is being courted by both producers, but they focus on distinct specifications and features.
When it comes to technology and style, Audi is the winner, but BMW offers a smoother, sportier driving experience. When it comes to safety features, both brands score highly, however Audi has far lower reliability ratings. Although there isn’t much of a difference in price between the two, Audi’s reliability difficulties are evident in the price of repairs.
In the end, they are both fairly similar automobile makers with comparable models that appeal to slightly different demographics. Choose a BMW if you want a sporty, controlled ride. Choose an Audi if you want something with understated style and cutting-edge technology.