WHO OWNS WHICH CAR BRANDS?

A road map to auto industry ownership and partnerships

By Jeff S. Bartlett

The auto industry has a very confusing family tree. The past decade has seen partnerships, sales, separations, bankruptcies, and entire divisions killed off, making it difficult to keep up with who owns which car brands.

As automakers slim down to become more profitable and efficient, we’ve seen storied names, such as Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac, fade into the history books. We’ve also seen others, such as Chrysler, Jaguar, and Volvo, find new corporate parents outside their original country. And new companies have risen, such as Rivian and Tesla.

To help clear up some of the confusion, we present a road map to who owns which car brands sold in the U.S.

Several brands that have been retired are included in the list, such as Scion, because models are still available on the used-car market. We’ve omitted small-volume brands, such as Aston Martin and Ferrari, that are without major automaker parent companies.

Most brand names link to brand pages, where you’ll find links to current and past road tests.

Of course, the list is subject to change. To find out how the major brands compare in reliability, owner satisfaction, and road-test performance, see our brand report cards.

The Afeela sedan concept, from the Sony Honda Mobility partnership.

Photo: Sony Honda Mobility

Guide to Car Brands

Here we list each major car brand and its parent corporation—Brand: Parent Company—including some retired brands whose products are still readily available as used cars.

Acura: Honda Motor Company

Afeela: Sony Honda Mobility

Alfa Romeo: Stellantis

Audi: Volkswagen Group

BMW: BMW Group

Bentley: Volkswagen Group

Buick: General Motors

Cadillac: General Motors

Chevrolet: General Motors

Chrysler: Stellantis

Defender: JLR/Tata Motors

Discovery: JLR/Tata Motors

Dodge: Stellantis

Fiat: Stellantis

Fisker: Fisker Inc.

Ford: Ford Motor Co.

GMC: General Motors

Genesis: Hyundai Motor Group

Honda: Honda Motor Co.

Hyundai: Hyundai Motor Group

Infiniti: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

Jaguar: JLR/Tata Motors

Jeep: Stellantis

Kia: Hyundai Motor Group

Land Rover (soon to be retired): Tata Motors

Lexus: Toyota Motor Corp.

Lincoln: Ford Motor Co.

Lotus: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

Lucid: Lucid Motors

Maserati: Stellantis

Mazda: Mazda Motor Corp.

Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Mercury*: Ford Motor Co.

Mini: BMW Group

Mitsubishi: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

Nissan: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

Polestar: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

Pontiac*: General Motors

Porsche: Volkswagen Group

Ram: Stellantis

Range Rover: JLR/Tata Motors

Rivian: Rivian Automotive, with investments from Amazon and Ford, among others.

Rolls-Royce: BMW Group

Saab*: Brand owned by Saab AB; assets owned by National Electric Vehicle Sweden

Saturn*: General Motors

Scion*: Toyota Motor Corp.

Scout: Volkswagen AG.

Smart*: Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Subaru: Subaru Corp.

Suzuki*: Suzuki Motor Corp. Owns a small stake in Toyota.

Tesla: Tesla Inc.

Toyota: Toyota Motor Corp.

VinFast: VinGroup

Volkswagen: Volkswagen AG.

Volvo: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

*Retired brand, but many are still sold as used cars.

New and updated automotive brand logos from Stellantis, VinFast, Infiniti, Kia, GM, and Afeela.

Illustration: Jeff S. Bartlett/Consumer Reports

Guide to Car Corporations

Here’s a list of the major car corporations that sell in the U.S. and the brands they currently offer here.

BMW Group owns BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce.

Fisker Inc. owns Fisker, a reborn electric car brand that has partnered with Magna-Steyr to build its vehicles.

Ford Motor Co. owns Ford and Lincoln.

General Motors owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. Hummer returned as a GMC sub-brand. GM has a formal partnership with Honda to co-develop EVs.

Honda Motor Co. owns Acura and Honda. It partners with GM. And it formed an electric car company with Sony, called Sony Honda Mobility, that has the Afeela brand.

Hyundai Motor Group owns Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia.

Mazda Motor Corp. owns Mazda.

Mercedes-Benz Group owns Mercedes-Benz.

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance owns Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Nissan.

Rivian Automotive owns Rivian, an electric car company focused on SUVs and trucks.

Stellantis is the corporation formed from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A. merger. The name is explained as being rooted in the Latin verb “stello” meaning “to brighten with stars.” The FCA brands sold in the U.S. are now under Stellantis: Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram. Overseas, Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall are among the other Stellantis car brands.

Subaru Corp. owns Subaru.

Tata Motors owns JLR (formerly known as Jaguar and Land Rover). Going forward, its brands are Jaguar, Range Rover, Defender, and Discovery.

Tesla owns Tesla.

Toyota Motor Corp. owns Lexus and Toyota. And it has a stake in Subaru and Suzuki.

VinGroup owns the VinFast automotive brand, as well as VinHomes, VinBigData, VinBioCare, and VinBrain.

Volkswagen AG owns Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scout, and Volkswagen.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) owns Lotus, Polestar, and Volvo.

Lucid Air

Photo: Consumer Reports

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2022-06-24T20:27:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd