Acura is the luxury subsidary of Japanese automaker Honda. It produces many near-luxury and luxury sedans and crossovers SUVs. Lexus, Infiniti and Cadillac are close competitors.
Founded in 1913 in England, luxury car maker Aston Martin was bought by Ford in 1994, before being sold to in 2007 to two Kuwaiti investors. The company makes 2-door GT cars.
Founded in 1910 and part of the Volkswagen group since 1964, Audi is one of the pioneers of all-wheel drive systems, winning numerous world rally championships in Quattro cars.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, founded in 1913, began building airplane engines, then moved to motorcycles and cars, which it still produces. Today, BMW owns Rollys Royce and Mini.
Starting life as a car maker in England in 1919 - the company previously built engines for war planes - Bentley was purchased by Rolls Royce in 1931. VW aquired the brand in 1998.
Founded in 1903, Buick has a rich history, being one of the oldest names in GM's current portfolio. The entry-luxury brand is younger only than Cadillac and the late Oldsmobile.
Named after Detroit's founder when it was formed in 1902 at Henry Ford's abandoned factory, Cadillac has long been regarded as North America's first and premier luxury brand.
GM's bread-and-butter brand wasn't founded until 1911, and then it was by race car driver Louis Chevrolet and GM's founder William C. Durant who was ousted from his own company.
Famous for its invention of the minivan, Chrysler was formed in 1925. More recently, it merged with Mercedes-Benz and is now majority owned by privately-held Cerberus group.
A supplier to the North American auto industry since 1900, Dodge built its first complete car in 1914, before being aquired by Chrysler in 1928. Notable products include the Viper.
The dream car of both young and old, Ferrari was officially founded after the second World War, in 1947. The company made race cars first, selling road cars to fund the racing.
Founded in 1903, Ford is credited as being the first to use a mass production line to make its Model T. The family-owned company owns Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and controls Mazda.
Formed in 1908, GMC is the world's largest automaker, though Toyota is set to surpass it. GM owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, Daewoo, Hummer, Opel, Saturn, Pontiac, Saab and Vauxhall.
Starting out as a motorcycle manufacturer in Japan in 1948, Honda made a name for itself in North America since it imported its first product in the '60s and first car in 1970.
Spawned from the HMMWV (or Humvee) military vehicle, the first Hummer, now called H1, was first sold to the public in 1992. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the first owners.
As Korea's biggest car manufacturer, Hyundai has built a name for itself in North America since its debut in 1986, nearly twenty years after its founding in South Korea in 1967.
Nissan's luxury brand launched exclusively in North America in 1989. Infiniti competes with the likes of Acura, Lexus, Cadillac and BMW, and will launch in Europe later on in 2008.
Isuzu has been under GM's control since the first car was sold on American soil in 1972. The company built a few cars in the past, but now sells rebadged Chevy trucks exclusively.
The first Jaguar car rolled out of an English factory in 1935, but the company wasn't officially called so until 1945. The brand was owned by Ford, and most recently sold to Tata.
The original SUV, Jeep was a military vehicle first, private civilian transport second. The brand was born in 1941 and purchased by Chrysler in 1987, where it has remained since.
Korea's oldest car maker was founded in 1944, and worked with Ford to bring cars to the U.S. market in 1986. The first true Kia cars were sold in 1994. Hyundai bought Kia in 1998.
A true competitor to Ferrari, Lamborghini was founded because of a broken clutch in a Ferrari and the founder's resulting disappointment. Lamborghini is now under VW's Auto Group.
Sold along with Jaguar by Ford to India's Tata group in 2008, Land Rovers are regarded as some of the most offroad-worthy vehicles in the world. The company was founded in 1948.
The luxury division of Toyota, Lexus launched in 1989 with the LS400 sedan. Recently, the brand launched an in-house performance brand similar to BMW's M division with the IS-F.
The aging Lincoln brand was founded in 1917 and purchased by Ford five years later, where it's been ever since. Effectively a luxury brand of Ford, the company's newest car is MKS.
Lotus Cars was founded in 1959 by Colin Chapman. Its cars were always lightweight, helping earn their reputations as great handling cars, as per Chapman's 'less is more' motto.
Modern Maseratis are closely linked with Ferrari, as both are owned by Fiat, though the Trident badge has a long and storied history all its own. The company was started in 1914.
A name tracing back to 1909 that Mercedes-Benz' parent company, Daimler, resurrected from the past in 2000, it is reserved for ultra-luxury cars meant to be driven by chauffeurs.
Mazda was founded in Japan in 1920, and is now controlled by Ford, which has a 33.9 percent stake in the company and controlling interest, hence many parts and engines are shared.
One of the founders of M-B, Karl Benz, built what is considered the first ever car in 1886, with the first Mercedes vehicle born in 1901. M-B is among the most advanced carmakers.
A division of the Ford Motor Company founded in 1939 to fill the void between Ford- and Lincoln-branded cars is becoming superfluous, and is expected to get the axe fairly soon.
BMW bought and builds the new MINI, which is yet another British brand now controlled by the Germans. The new, bigger MINIs rolled off production lines in 2002, with fun built in.
Despite being one of Japan's oldest companies, formed in 1870, Mitsubishi didn’t introduce its Motors arm until 1970, although the first car, the Model A, dates bck to 1917.
Datsun, formed in 1931, was taken over by Nissan in 1933, though the former name stuck until 1986 on the company's four-wheeled products. The brand's most famous product is the Z.
General Motors' 'Performance division,' Pontiac joined GM's range in 1926 in Detroit, MI, being known as Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works Company before then, dating back to 1907.
Porsche was founded in 1931 in Germany, and is unique in offering rear-engined sports cars embodied by the 911 model range. The automaker holds a large stake in Volkswagen AG.
Now owned by BMW, England's ultra-luxury carmaker Rolls Royce dates back to 1906, when the first car, the Silver Ghost, was built and featured the surnames of its two founders.
Saab is now owned by GM, but was founded in Sweden in 1937, when it made airplanes. The first car, the slippery Saab 92001 prototype, rolled off the production line in 1947.
Saturn is GM's answer to small, four-cylinder import cars, founded in 1985. The first cars were produced in 1990, and were unique in using dent-resistant plastic body panels.
Scion is Toyota's brand aimed to attract younger buyers to its cars, with a hip and trendy marketing campaign. The cars are largely versions of the automaker's Japanese offerings.
A division of Fuji Heavy Industries, the first Subaru car was built in 1954 in Japan. Subaru is famous for its use of flat-four engines, all wheel drive systems, and rally racing.
Suzuki, founded in 1909, began producing looms, and didn't make its first car until 1939. The first motorcycle, not much more than a bicycle with an engine, wasn't made until 1952
Having recently taken the honor from GM as the world's biggest automaker by volume, Toyota owns the Lexus and Scion brands. Toyota produced its first car, the Model A1 in 1935.
Volkswagen Auto Group is Germany's biggest automaker, and the world's fourth. The company was officially founded in 1937, though its first cars dated back to a design from 1931.
The first Volvo rolled off the production line in 1927 in Sweden. Renowned as a maker of safe cars, the company also builds trucks and heavy equipment. Ford bought Volvo in 1999.
Please note that you need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.
Forgot your Password?
Don't have a user name yet? Click here to register now.
Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.
Leftlane is the leading source for automotive industry and vehicle news, new car research, future vehicle information, and reviews. Read by car shoppers, driving enthusiasts, autoworkers, executives, and investors, the website is updated throughout the day with the very latest auto news - as it happens.
Leftlane also provides consumers with accurate and media-rich information on every car currently on the market. In-market shoppers can review specs, read overviews, view high-resolution images, watch videos, and estimate pricing. No other automotive publication brings together the same degree of timeliness, thoroughness and accuracy as Leftlane.
