Who Owns Which Car Brands?
A road map to auto industry ownership and partnerships
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.
Photo: Scout Photo: Scout
Guide to Car Brand Ownership
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
Alpine: Renault
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: Infiniti Motor Company, part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
Jaguar: JLR/Tata Motors
Jeep: Stellantis
Kia: Hyundai Motor Group
Land Rover (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: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
Nissan: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., part of the 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.
Slate: Slate
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.
Illustration: Jeff S. Bartlett/Consumer Reports Illustration: Jeff S. Bartlett/Consumer Reports
Guide to Car Corporations and Brands
Here’s a list of the major car corporations that sell in the U.S., the country where their global headquarters is based, and the brands they currently offer here.
BMW Group (Germany) owns BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce.
Fisker Inc. (U.S.) owns Fisker, an electric car brand that partnered with Magna-Steyr to build its vehicles.
Ford Motor Co. (U.S.) owns Ford and Lincoln.
General Motors (U.S.) owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. Hummer is now a GMC sub-brand.
Honda Motor Co. (Japan) owns Acura and Honda. It partnered with GM on EVs, including the Acura ZDX and Honda Prologue. It formed an electric car company with Sony, called Sony Honda Mobility, that has the Afeela brand.
Hyundai Motor Group (South Korea) owns Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia.
Mazda Motor Corp. (Japan) owns Mazda.
Mercedes-Benz Group (Germany) owns Mercedes-Benz.
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance (Netherlands) owns a stake in Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Nissan.
Rivian Automotive (U.S.) owns Rivian.
Slate is a new U.S.-based company.
Stellantis (Netherlands) is the corporation formed from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A. merger. The FCA brands sold in the U.S. are now under Stellantis: Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram. Overseas brands also include Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall.
Subaru Corp. (Japan) owns Subaru.
Tata Motors (India) owns JLR (formerly known as Jaguar and Land Rover). Going forward, its brands are Jaguar, Range Rover, Defender, and Discovery.
Tesla (U.S.) owns Tesla.
Toyota Motor Corp. (Japan) owns Lexus and Toyota. And it has a stake in Subaru and Suzuki.
VinGroup (Vietnam) owns the VinFast automotive brand, as well as VinHomes, VinBigData, VinBioCare, and VinBrain.
Volkswagen AG (Germany) owns Audi, Bentley, Cupra, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scout, SEAT, and Volkswagen. It has a partnership with Rivian.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH, China) owns Lotus, Polestar, and Volvo.
More on Cars by Brand
• Which Car Brands Make the Best Vehicles?
• Who Makes the Most Reliable New Cars?
• Which Car Brands Have the Highest Road-Test Scores?
• Owner Satisfaction Ratings: Best and Worst Car Brands Revealed
• Safest Car Brands Ranked by CR’s Safety Verdict
• Car Brands Ranked by Maintenance and Repair
• Which Brands Make the Best Used Cars?
• Who Owns Which Car Brands?
Check CR's Car Ratings
Photo: Rivian Photo: Rivian
