“Is Mazda owned by Ford?” This is a question that many people don’t even know to ask. With players like Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Kia or whomever, you would think surely these aren’t just brand names owned by a handful of different parent companies. Well, that is kind of exactly what is going on with the majority of your favorite car brands. 

Car brands are more confusing than you thought

There is a nearly constant mix of partnerships, deals, acquisitions, mergers, and nearly any other big business-type word you could muster happening in respect to various car brands. There is another, darker side to this thing, too. Over the years, we have seen major car brands like Mercury, Saturn, and Pontiac dissolve into mere relics of a simpler, heavier automotive past. As Consumer Reports notes, while some have disappeared, others are rebuilding the brand under new leadership, like Chrysler, Volvo, and Jaguar. 

Car brands are confusing

Frankly, it can be nearly impossible to know which car brand is owned by whom on any given day. This is becoming doubly confusing as all these new EV brands like Tesla, Rivian, Polestar, and Lucid seem to be popping up left and right. Are these companies all stand alone? Are they subsidiaries of bigger car brands? It all gets a bit much to keep up with at some point. 

Thankfully, Consumer Reports followed the trail of bread crumbs for most of the major car brands and compiled a list of which car brands own whom. I can guarantee there will be a few in here that will make you say, “Whoa! (blank) owns (blank) ?!?!?!” 

Consumer Reports list of which manufacturers own each major car brand

Acura: Honda Motor Company

Alfa Romeo: Stellantis

Audi: Volkswagen Group

BMW: BMW Group

Bentley: Volkswagen Group

Buick: General Motors

Cadillac: General Motors

Chevrolet: General Motors

Chrysler: Stellantis

Dodge: Stellantis

Fiat: Stellantis

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: Tata Motors

Jeep: Stellantis

Kia: Hyundai Motor Group

Land Rover: Tata Motors

Lexus: Toyota Motor Corp.

Lincoln: Ford Motor Co.

Lotus: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 

Maserati: Stellantis

Mazda: Mazda Motor Corp.

Mercedes-Benz: Daimler AG

Mercury*: Ford Motor Co.

Mini: BMW Group

Mitsubishi: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

Nikola: Nikola Motor Company, with a supply relationship with General Motors.

Nissan: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

Polestar: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 

Pontiac*: General Motors

Porsche: Volkswagen Group

Ram: Stellantis

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

Rolls-Royce: BMW Group

Saab: a brand owned by Saab AB; assets owned by National Electric Vehicle Sweden

Saturn*: General Motors

Scion*: Toyota Motor Corp.

Smart: Daimler AG

Subaru: Subaru Corp.

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

Tesla: Tesla Inc.

Toyota: Toyota Motor Corp.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen AG. 

Volvo: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

The automotive industry is a strange one

Although this list is complicated as it is, it is also incomplete. Many European manufactures that don’t sell in the U.S. aren’t included in this list.

Although this list is incomplete, it helps show the relationship between these different brands and how closely they can be related to each other. We feel so much brand loyalty and deep feelings about the car brands we like and don’t like without ever realizing how interconnected they can be. In fact, this list would have looked really different only a year ago, and chances are it will look much different than this a year from now.