Who owns who

So, you're buying an English car huh? That fancy Jaguar with its birds eye maple... so much nicer than any American car. In fact, no American company can compete with its elegance you say. Well, hold on to your bowler because, as nice as the Jaguar is, it's now a Ford.

The automotive world is a complicated place now and with consolidation hitting everyone it's no surprise that car companies are gobbling up each other faster than ever before.

Now, just because Volvo sold their car division to Ford it doesn't mean you can get a Mustang engine in a S60 sedan. Nor does it mean you can get Ford Focus with an Aston Martin engine. But it does mean these companies with bigger parents have a better chance of surviving long-term because of better financial stability. In fact there's a good chance SAAB wouldn't be making new designs if it weren't for GM and I don't think Volvo would have had the money for their latest 'R' line of cars if Ford hadn't stepped in.

But in soap opera fashion sometimes these companies sell their divisions so quickly that the new parent doesn't even have time to make their own changes. What do we mean? The latest Range Rover (from Land Rover which is owned by Ford) comes with a wonderful BMW engine under the hood. Why? Because BMW bought the Rover group some years ago and sold the Land Rover lineup to Ford. To put it plainly, you'd be buying an English SUV with a German engine from an American company.

Use our chart below to see who owns who.

BMW owns:
-BMW
-Mini
-Rolls Royce

Chrysler owns:
-AMC (brand discontinued -- Chrysler bought AMC primarily for the Jeep brand which was owned by AMC)
-Chrysler
-Dodge
-Eagle (brand discontinued)
-Jeep
-Plymouth (brand discontinued)

Daimler/Chrysler owns:
-Chrysler (small percentage)
-Maybach
-Mercedes-Benz
-Smart

Fiat owns:
-Alfa Romeo
-Ferrari
-Fiat
-Lancia
-Maserati

Ford owns:
-Aston Martin (SALE PENDING)
-Ford
-Jaguar
-Land Rover (bought from BMW)
-Lincoln
-Mazda (Ford owns 33% of Mazda)
-Mercury
-Volvo cars

Fuji Heavy Industries owns:
-Subaru

General Motors owns:
-Buick
-Cadillac
-Chevrolet
-Daewoo (GM owns 44%)
-Fiat (GM has decided to divorce itself from Fiat as of Feb '05, but will retain 10% ownership.)
-GMC
-Holden
-Hummer
-Oldsmobile (brand discontinued)
-Opel
-Pontiac
-Saab
-Saturn
-Suzuki (2.5%, from 20%)
-Vauxhall

Honda owns:
-Acura
-Honda

Hyundai owns:
-Hyundai
-Kia

Isuzu owns:
-Isuzu
(Mitsubishi Corp., Itochu Corp. and Mizuho Corporate Bank owns part of Isuzu.)

Mitsubishi Corp. owns:
-Isuzu (13.6%)
-Mitsubishi Motors Corp (13%)

Nissan owns:
-Infiniti
-Nissan
-Renault (Nissan owns 15%)

PSA Peugeot Citroen owns:
-Citroen
-Peugeot

Porsche owns:
-Porsche
-VW (~31%)

Renault owns:
-Nissan (Renault owns 44%)

Toyota owns:
-Daihatsu (~51%)
-Fuji Heavy Industries -- Subaru (Toyota owns ~20%. Toyota bought this from GM in late 2005. )
-Isuzu (5.9%, announced 7 Nov. 2006)
-Lexus
-Scion
-Toyota

Volkswagen owns:
-Audi
-Bentley
-Bugatti
-Lamborghini
-SEAT
-Skoda
-Volkswagen

The automotive world is constantly changing so this article is will updated as needed.

Last update: 29 Nov 2007
Latest changes were: Chrysler & Daimler split up. Man, we were late on updating that!

Comments

[Henryk]

English cars are ugly, and they always break down, the English try to emulate more successful European brands but they don't even come close to what the Germans, French and Italians can do, I mean seriously, Aston Martin better than a Ferrari, I doubt it very much, I know i would rather own a ferrari any day over stupid English car like Jaguar.

[No-Fault Insurance]

The brands are constantly swaping! Now Tata buys brands like Jaguar. Depends on the economical situation of automotive concern. I like VW - their views on cars are good

[Jaguar Accessories]

English cars are the best. English people know how to build cars! Aston Martin can beat almost every super car if talking about the mixture of performance, design and other characteristics.

[Sven Helmut]

The reason American car companies are going out of business is because of misplaced and idiodic patriotism!

Detroit has been slowly going out of business thanks to all those retards that buy american cars regardless of any consideration of: quality,design,gasmilage,freshniss of look / brand and most of all available technology .

Detroit build the crappy cars it thought people wanted ,but what they really wanted is all the things mentioned above.

So to all you red white and blue buyers, you have only yourself to blame for leding Detroit astray and supporting crappy cars in a very competitive marketplace.
Support a good product and watch greatniss rise to the top!

[sanddep]

BMW is best it is forever i really like the car

[khaled]

Outside of Toyota & Honda, it's a crap shoot. Emphasis on crap !

[Richard Sidoni]

I've owned Chevy's Corvettes, Buicks, Olds, Dodge, Plymouth, GMC and other brands that most wouldn't recognize. Bought my first VW! Watch out for the Germans. VW owns Audi, Bently, Lamborgini, Bugati and others. Those folks know how to build first class automobiles. These products are not the cheap thrown together vehicles that seem to populate our country. Well satisfied!

[vw]

i have owned almost every brand....i dont really care what kind of car i have as long as it looks nice and has power--currently own a vw

[Dallas]

Buy American is all I can say. I mean real American, not an American company owned by the Japanese. I am a loyal Ford customer. Why buy American? Hello, I am an American. No more needs to be said. Although I did own a Honda which is a great make but it was given to me to fill the cap for my next ford which I just bought. 2009 Focus and I do love it.

[Robert]

I just bought my car less the a year ago now but still before I heard all the news about the downfalls of some auto makers. I am just very happy the I got my Ford Mustang. Mustang is definitely not a brand. LOl I feel like it is a lifestyle.

please tell me about your cars
http://ilovemycar-justrobert.blogspot.com/

[Gilera]

BMW is still the best , LOVE IT

[Rock3r6]

also TVR is not on the list.

they were resently baught buy some russian co.

[Rock3r6]

ive had an 83 caviler and a 97 caviler and both were a POS.i believed ever word that people were telling me about haw reliable cavilers are.well im not buying any GM owned vehichles again.
i did have a 93 dodge caravan in between the 83 and 97 cavilers and it the tranny went on it at 278K miles now i will buy a dodge again.
i currently have a 2002 mitsubisi lancer and i havent had any problems with it,
now that person that said they bought a montero was dupped cause they never were very reliable, with the stick shift.now the automatics were half decent.
i know all of this because i run my own vehicle reliability company i test and review anything from the yugo to the new Nissan Cube.

[hooke]

All of you need to learn about doctor deming and his method of quality control.He is the reason foreign cars are better than those made in this country. My Cadillac has had problems from the start. mirrors and seats.

[jim spidell]

if we dont buy american built vehicles we may as well start looking for places to live in japan (thats right its a communist country theyll tell you where to live & what to eat)

[Allen]

By the way, who ever asked who owns Mustang should be ashamed. Mustang is not a company!

[Allen]

I love Ford and all Asian car companies suck. Don't argue with it. This page is way too outdated. Ford now only owns, obviously Lincoln and Mercury, and Volvo. The rest have been sold. This is the reason they haven't gone into bankruptcy. Ford is the best car company around.

[Big daddy]

My cars:
-1962 Ford Galaxie 500 - junk
-1964 Triumph TR-4 - looked good, but junk
-1967 Ford Fairline GT - fast, looked cool -but junk. something fell off or broke every 10 miles.
-1970 Plymouth Cuda 340, 3 dueces, fast, fun and absolutely no problems through 108K miles
-1976 Pontiac Firebird - 140K miles - no issues - stuck in the Jimmy Carter early polution control phase (air injectors etc), marginal hp, but fun to drive.
-1976 Jeep Wrangler CJ7 - 95K miles before selling- absolutely no problems and fun to drive - great offroad
-1978 Pontiac Trans Am - Fast, great performance - 190K miles, now sitting in storage for restoration.
-1984 Chevy K-5 Blazer 4wd- 190K miles, but 6 transmisions - to be fair, most miles were pulling a bass boat and climbing in the Rockies - I loved this truck, but weak tranny.
1987 Old 98 Regency Broughm - why?? I still don't know why I bought this old fart car at age 29, but it was a good drive - 140K miles with no problems.
-1990 Chevy Suburban 4wd- 180K miles - outstanding performance - not one problem.
-1994 Misubishi Montero 4wd- my first Jap car - big mistake - 2 blown trannys(at 62K and 87K miles) and 3 blown engines (85K miles, 103K miles and 117K miles), with 6 blown head gaskets in between - ok on hwy but could not take offroad - I listened to the hype, but what a mistake - no more Jap cars for me, and this was Mitsu's top of the line at the time.
-2002 Chevy Avalanche 4wd- 270K miles - not one single problem - my son still drives and loves it.
-2005 Chevy Tahoe 4wd - currently 40K miles, no problems, outstanding performance - still own.
-2007 GMC Sierra 4wd -Vortex max trailering package - currently 48K miles, not one problem and outstanding performance.
-2009 Chevy Corvette Z-51 perfomance pkge - 438 hp, 6 spd standard and 29 mpg - awesome, fast, high quality and puts all the Jap cars to shame.
Big issue on all - I do all my own maintenance - have used Mobil One synthetic oil on all and I maintain my cars to the nth degree.
The bottom line - any car can be good if you take care of it, but Japanese cars continually blow head gaskets, are expensive to maintain and are make for the shop mechanics to work on.
GM makes the best, hardest working and most dependable cars in the world. Chrysler makes great cars, but cheap and marginal pickups. Ford makes good trucks, but ugly cars.
Enjoy.

[Dude]

Wow grammar war much? Setting it straight, for those who defend Toyota theres 2 in my driveway that cost thousands a year in "regular" matenence. I've seen GM's die yes but the only reason they were no longer driveable is body problems. Go to a car lot, and find the ratio of used cars per brand, it's hard to find a GM. Mostly Fords and Dodges. I've seen many cars run past 300 000km no problem of many brand, I've also seen many of all brands die before thier time. If you don't take care of your car it could be a Dodge Neon, Toyota Prius, or a Porsche Boxster, it'll die.

About the whole robots make better cars, the Nissan GT-R is highlighted for a hand built engine, and typicaly human made products are high quality, and high priced products. Not only that but imagine losing your families income to a robot? Another reason the American car companies should stay.

Finaly you can't base everything on a used car because you never know what it's been through, or if you got a POS from a dealer who conned you. Buy at your own risk but don't cry when a robot takes your job because you bought a Toyota.

P.S. Mock my grammar and spelling, I'm purposly not corecting it for that, have fun!:)

[Store]

yes GM is selling Hummer, very sad but true

[car engine assembly]

Well, I think it will no longer matter if its American or English owned. I believe what's more important at this point is that whoever currently owns it is able to maintain the quality of the cars and is able to produce more great cars that would answer the consumers' needs.

[FUCK TOYOTA]

fuck you bitches American cars are way better because they are more fuel efficient and they are better looking, and they are safer than Japaneses cars

American cars are the Fouce
Japanese cars are the Civic

which one is safer

[john smith]

To the first guy: hugging is spelled with two "g's" redneck-go back to school! Also, TOYOTA IS THE BEST, HANDS DOWN!

[japan makes better cars]

every thing that first guy said is true and the rest of you guys are nut huging flag wereing fagits american cars are peices of shits ill never buy a peice of shit amercain car cause they suck balls thank you

[Paul]

The news is out 3/July/09: GM have now sold Hummer [none military models] to China