Complete Guide to Car Brands
Credit: Carfax and OEMs
Nội Dung Chính
A Complete Guide to Car Brands, Car Logos and Who Owns Whom
Car brands come and go, so it’s not always easy to keep track of which company owns each brand. Two cars may be produced by different brands, but those brands may be owned by the same parent company.
Knowing who owns each brand can prove helpful when you’re shopping for a car. Once you find a vehicle that interests you, check to see if its parent company owns other brands that make a similar vehicle. That’ll let you cross-shop the related cars from the different brands under the same parent company. Despite being on the same platform, the cars could have considerably different feature sets – and prices.
Car Brand Guides
We’ve put together this list of mainstream and luxury automotive brands. To further clarify who owns who, we’ve included automaker family trees for every brand sold in the United States. We’ve also included their brand logos, so you can identify them more easily.
Keep reading to learn about every car brand sold in the U.S. today, what their logo looks like, and who owns each automaker.
Mainstream Car Brands & Logos
There are so many automakers today that it helps to break them down into mainstream and luxury. It’s a somewhat arbitrary distinction, as mainstream cars can be quite expensive and luxury cars can be cheap. Still, luxury brands are independent enough to warrant a separate list.
Buick
Buick is the oldest American car brand still in existence in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the world. It was founded in 1899 and became Buick Motor Company in 1903. Buick is GM’s upscale carmaker, slotting between Chevrolet and Cadillac. The company’s product lineup includes the Enclave SUV.
Who Owns Buick?
General Motors (GM) owns Buick.
Chevrolet
Chevrolet is an American automaker that was founded in 1911 and is marketed as GM’s flagship brand. It produces a variety of cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks with affordable price tags. The automaker’s lineup includes the Equinox SUV, Silverado 1500 pickup, Spark hatchback, and Bolt EV.
Who Owns Chevrolet?
General Motors (GM) owns Chevrolet.
Chrysler
Chrysler is an American brand that was founded in 1925. Over the years it was acquired (and sold off) by Daimler-Benz and later merged with Fiat to become Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). FCA then merged with Groupe PSA (a French company that owns Peugeot and Citroen) to create Stellantis. Chrysler offers a small selection of family-friendly transportation, including the Pacifica minivan and 300 sedan.
Who Owns Chrysler?
The multinational European-American company Stellantis owns Chrysler.
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand that started as the Dodge Brothers Company in 1900 and was sold to Chrysler in 1928. The brand focuses primarily on trucks and large sporty cars. In 2010, Dodge pickup truck production moved to the Ram brand. Dodge’s product lineup includes the Charger sedan, Challenger sports car, and Durango SUV.
Who Owns Dodge?
The multinational European-American company Stellantis owns Dodge.
Fiat
Fiat is an Italian automaker founded in 1899. It produced cars in the U.S. from 1908 to 1917. After an extended pause, Fiat returned to the American market in the 1950s. The automaker designs small, retro-styled cars and crossovers. Its small product lineup just includes the 500X SUV.
Who Owns Fiat?
The multinational European-American company Stellantis owns Fiat.
Ford
Founded by Henry Ford in 1903, Ford is a mainstream American automaker that caters to a wide variety of consumers. Its product lineup includes everything from hybrids to sports cars and full-size pickup trucks. The company’s lineup includes the F-150 pickup, Escape SUV, and Mustang sports car.
Who Owns Ford?
Ford is a brand sold by the publicly traded Ford Motor Company.
GMC
GMC is an American company and GM’s upscale truck and SUV brand. It started as Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, and later Reliance Motor Car Company. In 1911, GM combined the two companies to create GMC. GMC’s lineup includes the Canyon pickup truck and Acadia SUV.
Who Owns GMC?
General Motors (GM) owns GMC.
Honda
Honda is a Japanese brand known for its practical, safe, and reliable vehicles. It was founded in 1948. In 1982, the Honda Accord was the first Japanese car to roll off an assembly line in the U.S. Honda offers vehicles in many classes, with a focus on overall performance and customer satisfaction. The company’s product lineup includes the Civic sedan, CR-V SUV, and Odyssey minivan.
Who Owns Honda?
Honda is a brand sold by the publicly traded Honda Motor Company.
Hyundai
Hyundai is a South Korean brand with a solid reputation for value and quality. It was founded in 1967, though it didn’t start selling its cars in the States until 1986. Hyundai’s product portfolio includes vehicles such as the Sonata sedan, Ioniq hybrid, and Santa Fe SUV. It also makes the Kona SUV, which is available with an all-electric powertrain.
Who Owns Hyundai?
Hyundai is a brand sold by the publicly traded Hyundai Motor Company, part of the Hyundai Motor Group conglomerate.
Jeep
The first production Jeep was built by Willys-Overland in 1945. Parent companies changed over the years to Kaiser-Overland and American Motors Corporation. It was bought by Chrysler in 1987. Jeep is an American brand that focuses specifically on off-road-ready SUVs, though it launched the Gladiator compact pickup truck for 2020. The company’s lineup also includes the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.
Who Owns Jeep?
The multinational European-American company Stellantis owns Jeep.
Kia
Kia is a South Korean brand that offers stylish, feature-filled cars and SUVs with affordable price tags. It was founded in 1944 and started selling cars in the U.S. in 1993. Kia’s product lineup includes the Soul crossover, Sorento SUV, and Niro.
Who Owns Kia?
Kia is a publicly traded company that’s part of the Hyundai Motor Group conglomerate.
Mazda
Mazda is a Japanese brand that focuses on sporty cars and crossovers with good fuel economy and premium interiors. The automaker was founded in 1920 and began selling cars in the U.S. in 1970. Mazda’s vehicle portfolio includes the CX-5 crossover, Mazda3 sedan and hatchback, and Miata roadster.
Who Owns Mazda?
Mazda is a publicly traded company.
Mini
Mini is a British brand founded in 1969 that makes “mini” cars and crossovers with sporty performance and engaging handling. The marque started selling cars in America in 2002. Mini’s current lineup includes models such as the Cooper hatchback and Cooper Countryman SUV.
Who Owns Mini?
The BMW Group owns Mini.
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi is a Japanese automaker that makes cars and SUVs such as the Mirage and Outlander. Its current lineup of vehicles lack the reliability and overall refinement of most competitors, but its cars are affordable. The brand was founded in 1970, though its origins date back to 1917. Mitsubishi officially entered the U.S. market in 1982.
Who Owns Mitsubishi?
Mitsubishi is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Nissan
Besides Toyota, Nissan is the only Japanese automaker in the U.S. to offer an extensive lineup of cars from almost every vehicle class. Its lineup includes the Leaf electric car, GT-R sports coupe, Altima sedan, Rogue SUV, and Frontier and Titan pickup trucks. Nissan was founded in 1933, though it was originally named Datsun when it first came to the U.S. in 1958. Nissan owns the Datsun brand and sold cars under the name for many years in the U.S., but that came to an end in 1986.
Who Owns Nissan?
Nissan is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Ram
Ram is an American truck maker that‘s a spinoff of the Dodge Ram pickup. It was created in 2010 as a division of Stellantis. Ram focuses exclusively on trucks and cargo vans, including the 1500 pickup and ProMaster cargo van.
Who Owns Ram?
The multinational European-American company Stellantis owns Ram.
Subaru
Subaru is a Japanese automaker that focuses on utility, capability, safety, and value. Almost every vehicle in its lineup comes standard with all-wheel drive, higher ground clearance than rivals, and mild off-road capability. The brand’s stable includes vehicles such as the WRX compact car, Outback wagon, and Forester SUV. Subaru was founded in 1953 and came to America in 1968. Until recently, its parent company was called Fuji Heavy Industries.
Who Owns Subaru?
Subaru is a brand sold by the Subaru Corporation, formerly Fuji Heavy Industries, a Japanese multinational transportation and aerospace company.
Toyota
Toyota is a Japanese brand founded in 1937 that makes cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans. It’s known for offering practical cars that excel in safety and reliability. Toyota also makes a full lineup of hybrid vehicles. Toyota entered the U.S. market in 1957. Its Corolla is the best-selling car of all time in the U.S. and across the globe. The Toyota Highlander, Tacoma, Corolla, Camry, and RAV4 all rank among the top vehicles sold in the U.S..
Who Owns Toyota?
Toyota is a brand sold by the publicly traded Toyota Motor Corporation.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German brand that offers European refinement at reasonable prices. Its overall focus centers on engaging performance and upscale interiors. Volkswagen of America was established in 1955. VW’s lineup includes the Jetta sedan and SUVs such as the Tiguan and Atlas.
Who Owns Volkswagen?
Volkswagen is a brand sold by the publicly traded Volkswagen Group.
Who Owns Each Car Brand?
Below is another look at the automotive family tree, grouped by manufacturer. All of these brands sell new vehicles in the U.S.
The BMW Group
Ford Motor Co.
General Motors (GM)
Honda Motor Co.
Hyundai Motor Group
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
Stellantis
Tata Motors
Toyota Motor Corp.
The Volkswagen Group
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group
Cars Made by More Than One Automaker
There are a few cars that are made by two or more automakers from competing brands. The companies can save money by sharing development costs, which can be expensive for brand-new models. Each brand gives the car a different name, but the underlying platform is the same.
Examples include the Toyota Supra and BMW Z4, and the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ.
Car Brand Guides
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