Automotive industry chart and its brands

These years have been a constant back-and-forth of news about the sale of brands, their purchase by other manufacturers, or the reduction of a given brand’s stake in another. Now that we are closing out the year, it is a good time to take a visual look at the global brand landscape.

Thanks to this chart we have put together (you can view it in large size here), at a glance we have grouped the brands by who controls whom, and also indicated the nationality of each one. A curious detail: three Chinese brands have slipped into the landscape controlling MG, Rover and Volvo (and at this rate, Saab too).

On the other hand, it is also curious that two Indian firms have forcefully entered the automotive landscape by controlling Jaguar and Land Rover, as well as Ssangyong. And then we have the Fiat Group in Europe, which has taken over Chrysler, controlling an old American giant.

I must make some considerations about the chart: when we group a brand within another, we are speaking of majority control of the brand; it does not mean it has full control over it. This is the case of Fiat over Ferrari (a stake of around 56 %), Ford over Aston Martin (which it shares with Prodrive), or GM with Daewoo (which holds close to 50% control of the firm).

Ford controls it, but only with 11 %, Mazda, and on the other hand we must not forget Isuzu (supplier of diesel engines to Opel), which GM controls and which also holds stakes in it Toyota (5.9 %). Finally, we have the case of Nissan and Renault, which is really an alliance, although in the chart I place it within Renault.

I hope the information is useful to you and helps clarify the current landscape of automotive industries and manufacturers.