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    Who Owns Which Car Brands?

    A road map to auto industry ownership and partnerships

    7 cars from above on blue background connected with white line and dots Photo Illustration: Chris Griggs/Consumer Reports, Getty Images

    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.

    More on Cars

    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.

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

    Photo: Sony Honda Mobility 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 (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 car logos
    New and updated automotive brand logos from Stellantis, VinFast, Infiniti, Kia, GM, and Afeela.

    Illustration: Jeff S. Bartlett/Consumer Reports 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., 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, a reborn electric car brand that has 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. GM has a formal partnership with Honda to co-develop EVs.
    Honda Motor Co. (Japan) 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 (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 Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Nissan.
    Rivian Automotive (U.S.) owns Rivian.
    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, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scout, and Volkswagen.
    Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH, China) owns Lotus, Polestar, and Volvo.

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    Rivian R3
    Spun off the same platform as the Rivian R2, the shorter R3 crossover reminds of classic hatchbacks.

    Photo: Rivian Photo: Rivian


    Jeff S. Bartlett

    Jeff S. Bartlett is the managing editor for the autos team at Consumer Reports. He has been with CR since 2005. Previously, Jeff served as the online editorial director of Motor Trend for 11 years. Throughout his career, Jeff has driven thousands of cars, many on racetracks around the globe. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSBartlett.