The 11 Largest Car Companies In The World - Zippia (2024)

Volkswagen Group of America. Headquarters: Wolfsburg, Germany

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 4.56 million

2022 Revenue: $293.83 billion

Even in the United States, Volkswagens are commonly seen on the road in a variety of shapes and colors, but few of these car owners know that the company was originally state-owned by the Nazi Socialist Party in Germany in 1937.

Adolf Hitler and his government marketed it as “the people’s car.” It was a much cheaper alternative that was promoted as still having the desirable qualities of the more expensive cars being produced in Germany at the time, like BMW.

Just as the car was gaining popularity among Germans, World War II began in 1939 and production ceased. In post-war Germany, Volkswagen was looked at as the country’s chance to restart the economy and car industry.

It took a long time for Volkswagen to get anywhere internationally because it was associated with Nazi Germany. To fight this stereotype, Volkswagen sold a majority of its shareholdings to the public in 1960. It worked. By 1972, their unique bulbous car called the Beetle had broken the world record for production at 15 million vehicles made.

In the 50 years since their reemergence into the market as a public-owned company, Volkswagen improved upon its original negative image and became the largest car company in the world.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing. Headquarters: Aichi, Japan

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 10.5 million

2022 Revenue: $267.02 billion

The Toyota Motor Corporation has been around since the late 1930s, but these cars didn’t make it to the United States until 25 years later. Founded by Kiichiro Toyoda, the company was supported by its home country of Japan.

They even eliminated their competition within Japanese borders by now allowing cars to be imported in from other large automotive companies at the time, like Ford and General Motors. The government also provided them with a bail-out in 1949.

Toyota began building plants and a national headquarters in the United States in 1980 after out-selling Volkswagen at the one million sold mark. This feat made them the top imported car brand in the United States at the time.

By the early 2000’s they’d revolutionized the car market by putting out the first hybrid car that ran on both gas and electricity called the Prius. This came to be followed by more companies in environmentally conscious automobiles. It’s a standard that the company still upholds today.

Stellantis. Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Number of Cars Sold in the U.S. in 2022: 1.5 million

2022 Revenue: $172.4 billion

Stellantis was formed when the Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler merged with the French automaker Peugeot in 2021. Since then, it has grown to be one of the largest car companies in the world.

In 2009, Fiat absorbed Chrysler after they filed bankruptcy. While Fiat initially only purchased 20% stock to keep the company going, they took over the entire business by 2014. With the controlling share, the names were merged to become Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

Over the next two years, Fiat Chrysler released a multitude of new car models to compete with larger brands, like Ford and Toyota. Since the organization’s most profitable vehicle was Jeep, they focused the majority of their energy there.

Jeep was acquired by Chrysler Corporation when they seized AMC in 1987. This purchase proved to be one of the best decisions Chrysler made. Today, Jeep is one of the company’s most profitable brand.

Other popular brands under Stellantis include Dodge, Ram, Peugeot, Fiat, and Vauxhall.

Ford Motor Company. Headquarters: Dearborn, Michigan

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 1.85 million

2022 Revenue: $158.05 billion

When thinking about the most influential car companies in human history, Ford Motor Company is one of the first that comes to mind. Founded by Henry Ford and a series of investors in 1903, the trajectory of Ford Motor Company’s history set the standard for the automobile industry.

Five years after its inception, they released the Model T. The car was so popular among consumers that Ford needed to figure out ways to produce them faster. This led them to construct the first automotive assembly plant in the United States.

Their early success allowed Ford Motor Company to glide easily as the top car manufacturer for most of the 20th century. In the 1990s the organization acquired a few other luxury car brands under their title to define their image, such as Jaguar, Volvo, and Land Rover. All of which have now been sold by the brand during tumultuous business periods of the early 2000s.

Ford Motor Company was one of the large American car companies bailed out in 2008. Similar to General Motors, this act revived the car company enough for them to continue making hundreds of billions in profit as of 2019.

Mercedes-Benz Group. Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 2.05 million

2022 Revenue: $157.96 billion

Not surprisingly, Mercedes-Benz Group includes Mercedes-Benz, as well as Smart cars and many of the commercial trucks driving down the highway, such as Freightliner, Sterling, and others.

Daimler AG began as “Daimler-Benz” in 1926, conjoining two German automobile makers named Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. The two banded together after both stating that they had created the first gasoline automobile engine 30 years prior.

The company was involved in a lot of firsts in the automobile industry, including the first diesel engine to be used in regular passenger cars. It wasn’t until 1998 that the company merged with another popular brand at the time, Chrysler Corporation to become DaimlerChrysler. They didn’t adopt the name Daimler AG until 2007 when the company was desperately trying to offset the effects of the 2008 recession.

In more recent years, Daimler AG, along with other German car manufacturers, began working towards an automated car through a partnership with Nokia in 2015. They’ve been vocal about their participation in moving towards electric vehicles, which has secured them a spot as one of the largest car companies in the industry.

General Motors. Headquarters: Detroit, Michigan

Number of Cars Sold 2019: 2.27 million

2022 Revenue: $156.7 billion

The business that eventually formed General Motors was originally called “Durant-Dort Carriage Company”. They were the largest producer of horse-drawn carriages in their day.

That was, until the owner William Durant, was given the opportunity to buy Buick Motor Company. This inspired the movement towards evolving the company into General Motors in 1904.

General Motors went on to add a lot of automobiles to their lineup throughout the 1900s. These included the Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Elmore. With all its acquisitions, the company was the largest motor vehicle manufacturer in the world.

General Motors became the most sold car brand in the United States in 1962, effectively beating out Ford Motor Company with 50% of sales in the market.

The triumph of General Motors in the automotive industry slowed during the 21st century. The company revenue declined so much that President George W. Bush issued a bail-out to them and two other floundering American car manufacturers in 2008.

This gave General Motors the boost to stay afloat. It remains one of the highest-earning and producing car companies in the world.

BMW. Headquarters: Munich, Germany

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 2.4 million

2022 Revenue: $150.254 billion

Another huge car company to come out of Germany is BMW. It was formed in 1916 as a union between three major automotive corporations at the time. BMW began their history with the construction of aircraft engines in World War I.

Post-war, the company went on to start developing cars in 1928 and came out with high-end models that were desired by every citizen. With the rise of World War II, BMW was once again pulled in by aiding the Socialist party in aircraft engine creation. By the end of the war in 1945, nearly all the company’s plants were destroyed and BMW was not allowed to manufacture cars.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that BMW automobile production continued, and even then, the company nearly went under at every turn for the next 20 years. The brand sought to rearrange consumer’s perspectives by producing more luxury models to match their successful competitors. This change was enough to bring the BMW back to life.

By the 2000s, BMW was putting most of its attention into creating vehicles with turbo-charged engines and electric features. The fruits of these efforts have resulted in developing a long list of cars that fit this mold, such as the G11 7 Series and F30 3 Series.

SAIC Motor. Headquarters: Shanghai, China

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 5.3 million

2022 Revenue: $121.4 billion

SAIC Motor is younger than most of the other prominent car companies and gained most of its popularity over the past 20 years. Originally called Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, the tide turned for this small car company when they ventured into business with General Motors in the 1990s.

This merger allowed them to participate in some powerful acquisitions in the early 2000s, such as a Korean car company called Daewoo.

By 2010, SAIC had become the largest exporter of cars from China with 3.58 million sold. This was a trend that rose more in the years following.

FAW. Headquarters: Changchun, Jilin, China

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 3.2 million

2022 Revenue: $109.4 billion

FAW Group, also known as First Automobile Works, is a Chinese state-owned automobile company based in Changchun, China.

FAW was established in 1953 and produced its first vehicle, the Jiefang CA-10, in 1956.

Since that time, FAW has become one of China’s “Big Four” automobile manufacturers. The company specializes in producing cars, buses, trucks, and autombile parts.

FAW sells both under its on brand, as well as with foreign-branded joint ventures. Examples of this include FAW-Toyota and FAW-BMW products.

Hyundai Motor America. Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 3.94 million

2022 Revenue: $105.12 billion

Another late bloomer in the league of largest car companies, Hyundai Motor Group was officially founded by Chung Ju Yung in 1967. It wasn’t until eight years after that the company produced and distributed its first car called the Pony. The car was received well by consumers, and eventually, made its way to Canada where it would become the best-selling vehicle in the country.

By 1986, Hyundai Motor Group had entered the American market and began work on their own automotive technology in their new model, the Sonata. Within five years, four million Hyundai Sonatas had been made in response to the overwhelming demand.

While Hyundai had an early emergence into the automotive spotlight, its rise to the top has slowed in recent years. While they haven’t done anything particularly wrong in that time, their sales numbers simply never outranked that of their toughest competitors.

However, they still bring in enough steady revenue to make them one of the biggest car companies in the world.

Tesla. Headquarters: Palo Alto, California

Number of Cars Sold 2022: 1.3 million

2022 Revenue: $81.4 billion

Coming in as the youngest car company in the top 14 is Tesla, Inc., whose making moves towards climbing their way up the rankings. Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. They wanted to create a car that functions from computer software and other forms of technology.

An original investor in Tesla, Elon Musk, ended up with a position as chairman of the board of directors and took on an active leadership role. He’s stated his goal as making electric cars the norm and accessible for all.

In 2014, the company announced a revolutionary new feature on their cars. A driving assistance program called Autopilot, that initiated the beginning of their sensor system. They followed this up with the release of the Model X in 2015.

Over the past five years, Tesla has become successful faster than any car company before it. They’ve maintained qualities of innovation and expanded their business into solar energy. While it might not be the largest company yet, it’s estimated to overtake the competition very soon.