Who owns which car brands?

In this day and age, we see many different car brands on the road with different names ranging from A-Z. But to put things into a larger perspective, have you ever heard the term “parent company”? If you haven’t, it stands for a large corporation or group of companies that owns a number of other car brands. Some of which even owns more than 10 car brands under their umbrella. So, what if I told you that your Perodua Axia isn’t just from a small company which is only exported to a handful number of countries? So in this article, we will let you know which large corporations owns what car brand. You might be surprised as to who owns who.

Volkswagen AG

GIPHY

• Volkswagen Cars

• Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

• SEAT

• Audi

• Bugatti

• Skoda

• Bentley

• Lamborghini

• Porsche

• Scania

• MAN Trucks

The Volkswagen AG group, also known as VAG currently owns shares in multiple car companies all across the world. The companies owned by VAG comes in the form of Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and even Porsche. As for their motorbike division, Ducati is also a company owned by the German behemoth. 

If you were to look at cars such as the Volkswagen Touareg SUV, it is aimed to be a family-friendly five seater offering whereas the Audi Q7 does the same with the addition of a third row seating and higher quality materials. But those looking for the sportier route, can take a look at the Porsche Cayenne. On the other hand, if you’re interested in an SUV that provides the best luxury, the option would be the Bentley Bentayga. Now, why did I mention these cars? It’s because they are all using the same underpinnings as the Volkswagen Touareg.

Even the smaller Volkswagen Tiguan is shared with other models under the VAG umbrella. For example, the platform is shared with companies like SEAT and Skoda to build the SEAT Ateca and Skoda Karoq. As for the hatchbacks, we’ll use the mighty Volkswagen Golf as a comparison. The platform is also shared with both SEAT and Skoda for their own city hatchbacks.

BMW Group Holdings

DRIBBLE

• BMW Motors

• BMW i

• BMW M

• MINI

• MINI John Cooper Works

• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

• BMW Motorrad

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) has been around since the early 1920s. They’ve come up with multitutional models ranging from the small 1-Series to the collosal BMW X7 with more models yet to come. However, they also own a few car brands. The said car brands are Rolls-Royce, MINI. The latest partnership between BMW and a foreign car company comes in the form of the Vietnamese carmaker, VinFast.

A number of BMW models are currently shared with its respective subsidiaries. The BMW X1 for instance, has its platform shared with the MINI Countryman. The Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a mansion on wheels has its underpinnings sourced from the BMW X7. As for VinFast, their latest models, the Lux A2.0 and Lux SA2.0 are sourced from the outgoing (F10) 5-Series and (F15) X5 SUV respectively.

Toyota Motor Corporation

GIPHY

• Toyota Motors

• Daihatsu (Also owns a stake in Perodua)

• Lexus

Known as the largest car company in the world, Toyota currently has a few other brands under its umbrella. As of now, they have stakes in Lexus, Daihatsu and the recently closed down company, Scion. In Indonesia, both Toyota and Daihatsu share their models. If you’re living in the Republic of Indonesia, you’d have two options of brands if you’re looking to buy a specific model. Should you be looking for a family MPV, you’d be choosing between the Toyota Avanza and Daihatsu Grand Xenia. But, if you’re more into the SUV offerings, then you’d have to choose between the Toyota Rush and Daihatsu Terios.

As for the small A-segment city hatchbacks, the choices are the Toyota Agya and Daihatsu Ayla. Now, I may not be able to show you the cars for comparison, but if you look it up, you’ll notice that both the Agya and Ayla are closely matched with the Perodua Axia. As a matter of fact, they are essentially the same cars, with the changes being the designs and engine choices. Even the Toyota Rush is also shared with the latest Perodua Aruz. Only this time, the changes revolves around the minor design tweaks inside and out.

Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group

GFYCAT

• Geely Auto

• Geometry

• Lynk & Co

• Proton

• Lotus

• Volvo

• Polestar

• LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company)

• Yuan Cheng Auto

• Terrafugia

• Caocao

• MITIME

• Mingtai Group

To end things with a bang, we’ll dive into the world of Zhejiang Geely Holdings (ZGH). I’m sure a lot of you will be familiar with Geely’s repertoire. Because thanks to their acquisition of Proton back in 2017, our own national car maker is able to sell new models like hotcakes. Obviously, things started turning for the better when the Proton X70 was introduced. It is heavily based on the current Geely Boyue with the exception of minor styling tweaks to suit the Malaysian market.

Fast forward to 2019 and Geely’s work has spruced business for Proton. With the revised Proton Saga, Persona, Iriz and Exora, sales for Proton’s current lineup has only been increasing. But, Geely isn’t done by just improving current models. Set to launch either at the end of 2019 or early 2020 is the upcoming Geely Binyue based SUV. What’s the official name and price? We’re not sure. But, seeing the donor car in images does make one excited. Don’t you think?

As for the other names under ZGH, the biggest advancement to come out of one of their alliances is the partnership between Geely and Volvo. Both of them put together resulted in the introduction of Lynk & Co. The goal for the introduction is for the betterness of safer mobility. Speaking of safer mobility, if you’re interested to know more about the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) plan, feel free to read our previous article right here.

Verdict

In conclusion, these major car brands are just a small number of other major companies. All of which serve a major purpose in the automotive world. VAG plans for better expansion and use of their products and services to other car brands within their group, BMW’s expansion into the ultra luxury market, Toyota’s directive to create cars that suits many different demographics, and ZGH with their plans on expanding their business to other parts of Asia and the world. All while perfecting the future of mobility plans. 

So, what do you think about this lineup? Is it a big eye opener to learn that your car is potentially a part of a larger picture? Let us know in the comments below.