In most African countries, the majority of cars are Toyota models. They are affordable, they are fuel efficient, and they are easy to maintain. In Rwanda, where most of the cars come from Europe or America, the Toyota models are not as common, but still, they are the majority. The Number one spot for “largest Car manufacturer in the world is closely contested for between General Motors, and Toyota. But at the time of writing this article, Toyota is the largest car manufacturer in the world, closely followed by General Motors. 1.Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world’s largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 by production. Toyota is the ninth largest company in the world by revenue.The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father’s company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation group companies are Toyota (including the Scion brand), Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors,[ along with several “non-automotive” companies. TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.2. General Motors (USA) General Motors Company, commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated (until 2009) as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinationalautomotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and the world’s second largest automaker, by vehicle unit sales. GM employs over 202,000 people and does business in over 157 countries. General Motors produces cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sells and services these vehicles through the following divisions/brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Opel, Vauxhall, and Holden, as well as two joint ventures in China, Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile. GM’s OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services.In 2009, the company emerged from a government backed Chapter 11 reorganization. In 2010, GM made an initial public offering that was one of the world’s top 5 largest IPOs to date. GM returned to profitability in 2011.3. Volkswagen group (Germany) Volkswagen is second-largest market is China, where its subsidiary, Volkswagen Group China (VGC), is by far the largest joint venture automaker, selling more than one million vehicles in 2008. The Volkswagen Group constitutes the car brands like Audi AG, Automobili Lamborghini Holding S.p.A., Bentley Motors Ltd., SEAT, Skoda Auto and heavy goods vehicle manufacturer Scania AB. Recently, Porsche united with the Volkswagen Group. It also parents Bugatti Automobiles SAS which produces one of the world’s fastest car ‘Bugatti Veyron‘. The German luxury car company was founded on May 28, 1937 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler wanted a “people’s car”. Volkswagen literally means ‘people’s car’ in German.5. Ford (USA) Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. It should be noted however that Ford does have a popular range of vans and other non passenger vehicles. In 2007, Ford fell from second to third-ranked car maker for the first time in 56 years, behind only General Motors and Toyota. As of 2008, Ford became the second largest automaker in Europe (only behind Volkswagen), with sales that occasionally exceed those in the United States and large markets in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Ford’s former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008. In 2010 Ford sold Volvo to Geely Automobile.[2] Ford discontinued the Mercury brand after the 2011 model year. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK. The company is controlled by the Ford family, which owns a controlling stake in Ford Motor.6. Honda (Japan) One of Japan’s largest carmaker, Honda is also the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the internal combustion engines. Honda produces more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. The company was founded by a self-taught engineer SoichiroHonda on 24th September 1948. The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports car. Also, Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura in 1986.As of August 2008, Honda surpassed Chrysler as the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the United States. Honda was the seventh largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, and Nissan in 2010.7. PSA Peugeot Citreon (France) Peugeot Citroen, the producer of both Peugeot and Citroen models, is a French multinationalmanufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot and Citroënmarques. Headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, PSA was the second-largest Europe-based automaker (after Volkswagen Group) and the eighth-largest in the world measured by 2010 unit production. In December 1974 Peugeot S.A. acquired a 38.2% share of Citroën. In May 1976 they increased their stake of the then bankrupt company to 89.95%, thus creating the PSA Group. PSA’s old TU engine family has been replaced by Prince engine which was designed by the joint venture between PSA and BMW.8. Hyundai-Kia (South Korea) The Indian subsidiary of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the Hyundai Motors India, is the country’s second largest car manufacturer. It became the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group when Hyundai Motor Company purchased 51% of South Korea’s second-largest car company, Kia Motors in 1998. It was founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as a construction firm and Chung was directly in control of the company until his death in 2001.9. Mercedes Benz (Germany) Mercedes-Benz is a multinational division of the German manufacturer Daimler AG, and the brand is used for automobiles, buses, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name first appeared in 1926 under Daimler-Benz but traces its origins to Daimler’s 1901 Mercedes and to Karl Benz’s 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, widely regarded as the first automobile.As part of the Daimler AG company, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division includes Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach car production. Mercedes-AMG became a majority owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1998. The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999, and became Mercedes-Benz AMG beginning on 1 January 1999.10. Suzuki Motor Corporation (Japan) Suzuki Motor Corporation is the 10th largest automobile manufacturer in the world by production volume with almost 2.6 million units released during the year 2008. Suzuki has 35 main production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributors in 192 countries. Suzuki was founded in 1909 as Suzuki Loom Woarks by Michio Suzuki. The company’s first 30 years were focused on the production and development of the complex weaving machines. Later he decided to diversify the products and based on the consumer demand, decided to build compact cars. By 1954, Suzuki was producing 6,000 motorcycles per month and had officially changed its name to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd.
