The top Volkswagen Competitors are Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Renault Nissan, Hyundai, BMW, Chevrolet, Honda and others. Volkswagen (VW) is a German Automaker company that was founded in the year 1937. As one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, VW has an average annual production output of 8.7 million (2022) leading to annual revenue of approximately $81.791B as of March 2023. Its brands include the Seat and Skoda.
Volkswagen Group has operations in roughly 150 countries, with 119 production facilities in 19 European countries and 10 countries in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The group operates 117 production plants in 20 European countries and a further 10 countries in the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
It also has full ownership of the exotic Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Bugatti, Ducati, and Lamborghini subsidiaries. Being a global company, it employees around 669,275 employees and receives competition from the following global brands.
Table of Contents
Top 16 competitors of Volkswagen
1) Toyota
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: August 28, 1937
- Founders: Kiichiro Toyoda and Sakichi Toyoda
- Headquarters: Toyota, Aichi, Japan
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Akio Toyoda
- Revenue: $76.992B (June 30,2023)
- Number of employees: 375,235 (2023)
- Market capitalization: $225.85B (August 14, 2023)
- Parent: Toyota Group
- Production output: 8.69 million units( March 2023)
Toyota Motors Corporation is a Japanese company that manufactures cars of Toyota brand. In recent years, its unit production rate has been approximately 8.69 million cars with returns being around $76.992B.
As of 2022, the Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under four brands: Daihatsu, Hino, Lexus and the namesake Toyota. The company also holds a 20% stake in Subaru Corporation, a 5.1% stake in Mazda, a 4.9% stake in Suzuki, a 4.6% stake in Isuzu, a 3.8% stake in Yamaha Motor Corporation, and a 2.8% stake in Panasonic, as well as stakes in vehicle manufacturing joint-ventures in China (FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota), the Czech Republic (TPCA), India (Toyota Kirloskar) and the United States (MTMUS).
Toyota is the dominant leader in the world car group ranking in 2023, with cumulative data up to April 2023 showing that they sold 3.4 million vehicles and maintained a substantial distance from the runner-up, Volkswagen. Also in 2022, Toyota managed to maintain its position as the world’s best-selling automaker for the third year in a row.
It is one of the strongest Volkswagen Competitors in Japan and other Asian countries. Its employees are 375,235 distributed around the world thereby facilitating sales of around 8.69 million units. Some of its models include Daihatsu, Hino, the Toyota AA and Ranz among others.
2) General Motors
- Product Type: Automobiles and trucks
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: September 16, 1908
- Founders: William C. Durant, Charles Stewart Mott, Frederic L. Smith
- Headquarters: Detroit, Michigan, United States
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Mary Barra
- Production output: 5,939,000 vehicles (sales, 2022)
- Revenue: $44.746B (June 30, 2023)
- Number of employees: 167,000 (2022)
- Market capitalization: $46.88B (August 14, 2023)
Founded in the early 1900s, General Motors (GM) is an American company that manufactures and sells vehicles and their spare parts. Its headquarters in Detroit Michigan controls operations in more than 38 countries. According to recent reports, General Motors makes around 5,939,000 vehicles sales globally thus making around $44.746B in terms of revenue and an operating income of around $2.788B; this is made possible by its 167,000 professional staff well distributed around the world.
In May 2023, GM announced the creation of GM Envolve. As of January 2023, GM is ranked 25th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. General Motors Company net income was $2.540B for the quarter ending June 30, 2023.
Some of GM’s vehicle brands include; Chevrolet, Oakland, Hummer, Opel, Saturn and Vauxhall just to mention a few. General motors is also known as a smart marketer and rivals the marketing of Volkswagen. It is one of the strongest Volkswagen Competitors in US.
3) Ford
- Product Type: Automobiles, trucks, and SUVs
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: June 16, 1903
- Founders: Henry Ford, 11 associate investors
- Headquarters: Dearborn, Michigan, United States
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Jim Farley
- Number of employees: 173,000 (2022)
- Major products: Ford Mustang, Ford F-150, Ford Explorer, Ford Escape, Ford Transit
- Revenue: $44.954B (June 30, 2023)
- Market capitalization: $47.95B (August 15, 2023)
This is also an American company that was founded and incorporated in the year 1903. Like other automobile companies, Ford manufactures vehicles (Lincoln and SUV brands)and tractors. Ford produced and sold 4.2 million car units in a 2022.
Ford had a production output of 4.2 million vehicles in 2022. Ford Motor net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $1.917B.
With more than 100 plants and an average of 173,000 employees around the world, Ford had an operating income of $2.461B and $44.954B revenue as at the mid of the year 2023. Ford also owns a 32% stake in China’s Jiangling Motors. It also has joint ventures in China (Changan Ford), Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), and Turkey (Ford Otosan).
4) Renault Nissan
- Product Type: Cars, trucks, vans, buses, and electric vehicles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: 1999
- Founders: Carlos Ghosn (Renault), Yoshikazu Hanawa (Nissan)
- Headquarters: Paris, France
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Luca de Meo
- Production output: 3,250,800 units (2022)
- Revenue: $23.633B (March 31, 2023)
- Number of employees: 134,111 (2023)
- Market capitalization: $16.49B (August 15, 2023)
- Owner: Renault (43.4% cross ownership)
Renault Nissan is basically a partnership between Renault and Nissan companies that came to be in the year 1999. This partnership has employed close to 134,111 staff who directly contribute to over 3,250,800 units annual car sales. Some of Renault Nissan car brands include; Mitsubishi, Renault, Infiniti, Nissan, Lada, Datsun and Alpine among others.
Nissan has its presence in about 190 countries across the world. Nissan has 31 manufacturing plants worldwide and offers products and services in more than 160 countries.
The most popular Nissan car models are the Nissan Rogue and the Nissan Altima. These models have consistently been popular among consumers due to their reliability, practicality, and value for money.
In the first quarter of 2023, Nissan Group announced total U.S. first quarter sales for 2023 of 235,818 units, an increase of 17.3% versus the prior year. Nissan Motor net income for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $0.795B. It has a strong geographic presence in about 20 countries and sale in 170 countries
In 2016, Renault Nissan became the first ever manufacturers of Electricity powered cars and more than 245,000 units were sold the same year.
5) Hyundai
- Product Type: Automobiles, buses, construction equipment, and forklifts
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: 1967
- Founders: Chung Ju-yung
- Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Euisun Chung
- Production output: 322,767 (April 2022)
- Revenue: KRW 42.25 trillion (Q2, 2023)
- Number of employees: 120,000 +
- Market capitalization: $19.02B (August 14, 2023)
- Parent: Hyundai Motor Group (2000–present)
Hyundai is a South Korean company that was founded in 1947 and manufactures not only automobiles but also heavy machinery in Aerospace, Defense, and Engineering sectors. Being a global multinational, Hyundai has a net operating income of $2.874B.
Hyundai Motor sold 1,059,713 units around the globe in the second quarter of 2023. Its net profit (including non-controlling interest) also was up 8.5 percent to KRW 3.35 trillion. Sales of full electric models jumped 47% Y/y to nearly 78,000 units.
Its annual revenue is approximated to be KRW 42.25 trillion and employs more than 120,000 people globally. Some of its brands include; Aslan, Eon, Elantra, and Azera among others. Hyundai is one of the strongest Volkswagen Competitors in the Asian market.
6) BMW
- Product Type: Automobiles, motorcycles, and engines
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: March 7, 1916
- Founders: Karl Rapp, Camillo Castiglioni, Gustav Otto, Franz Josef Popp
- Headquarters: Munich, Germany
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Oliver Zipse
- Number of employees: 149,475 (2022)
- Revenue: $39.558B (March 31, 2023)
- Market capitalization: $66.14B (August 17, 2023)
BMW is a German Motorcycle and Automobile Company that was founded in 1916. This brand is preferred mostly by high-end clients because of its quality and pricing. BMW Manufacturing is the largest BMW Group plant in the world, producing more than 1,500 vehicles each day.
BMW net income for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $3.671B. BMW gross profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $8.342B. In the second quarter of 2023, the BMW Group delivered a total of 88,289 fully-electric BMW and MINI vehicles to customers.
An average number of BMW employees around the world are estimated to be 149,475. Most BMW cars are marketed under the brand name ‘BMW’. Others include; Rolls Royce, BMW I, touring Formula 1 cars and BMW M among others. Audi being a luxury car brand from the house of Volkswagen, has the highest competition from BMW, making BWM one of the strong Volkswagen brands in premium sports car segment.
7) Chevrolet
- Product Type: Automobiles, trucks, and SUVs
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: November 3, 1911
- Founders: Louis Chevrolet, William C. Durant
- Headquarters: Detroit, Michigan, United States
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Mary Barra
- Revenue: US$72.1 billion (2022)
Chevrolet Motors Company is an American company that was founded in the year 1911. It produces and sells a wide range of vehicles from medium cars to heavy-duty trucks. Some of its brands are; Aveo, Captiva, Traverse, Suburban, Sonic and Chevrolet Spark. In the USA alone, Chevrolet sells more than 2 million car units every year. Other than manufacturing and selling, Chevrolet Motors also repairs, maintains and provides insurance covers to vehicles. It manufactures vehicles in almost 37 countries under 13 brands.
Chevrolet sales increased 17-16% to 852,187 units during the second quarter of 2023. The Chevrolet Camaro sales increased by 110% in Q2 2023. Chevrolet realized a total revenue of US$72.1 billion worldwide in 2022.
8) Honda
- Product Type: Automobiles, motorcycles, power equipment, and robots
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: September 24, 1948
- Founders: Soichiro Honda, Takeo Fujisawa
- Headquarters: Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Toshihiro Mibe
- Production output: 3,870,161 (2022)
- Revenue: $33.762B (June 30, 2023)
- Number of employees: 197,039 (2023)
- Market capitalization: $52.82B (August 14, 2023)
Honda Automobiles is a worldwide conglomerate with its headquarters in Tokyo Japan. Its annual revenue is roughly $33.762B with a net operating income of about $2.879B. Honda has over 197,039 employees all over the world.
Honda net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $2.650B. In 2022, Honda built a total of 3,870,161 vehicles worldwide, which was a 6.4 percent decrease from the previous year. Honda’s best-selling model in the United States in 2022 was the CR-V, with 238,155 units delivered. The passenger car production of Honda worldwide as of October 2022 was 3.28 million cars.
In terms of motorcycle and combustion engines manufacture, Honda Company has a good rating. Apart from manufacturing automobiles and motorcycles, Honda also produces power generators, garden equipment, marine and aerospace engines and robotics. Its best car brand Acura makes about 150,000 sales yearly to the USA alone while around 16 million combustion engines are sold globally each year.
9) Subaru
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: July 15, 1953
- Founders: Kenji Kita
- Headquarters: Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Tomomi Nakamura
- Revenue: $27.931B (2023)
- Market cap: $14.99B ( September 06, 2023)
- Number of employees: 37,521 (2023)
Subaru of America, Inc. was named one of the top brands on Forbes’ Best Brands for Social Impact 2023 list. Subaru is the number one brand listed in the automotive category. Its greatest market is the USA that accounts for 70% of its total sales. During the first six months of 2023, the company sold 248,921 vehicles in the United States, which is 13 percent more than a year ago. Some of the Subaru Models are; Impreza, Outback, Crosstrek, Forester, WRX, and BRZ.
Subaru annual net income for 2023 was $1.483B. Subaru annual gross profit for 2023 was $5.45B. Subaru annual operating income for 2023 was $1.979B.
10) KIA
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: 1944
- Founders: Kim Cheol-hyun
- Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Ho-sung Song
- Number of employees: 40,000 (2022)
- Revenue: KRW 23.69 trillion (Q1, 2023)
- Operating profit: KRW 2.87 trillion (Q1, 2023)
Kia Motors Corporation is a South Korea based automobile company that was founded in the year 1944 and is currently Co-owned by Hyundai motors group. Its annual sales are slightly above 2.9 billion annually, KIA is ranked 2nd in Korea after its parent company Hyundai.
Kia Corporation has announced global sales of 768,251 units in the 2023 first-quarter (January-March 2023). For the first quarter of 2023, the company reported net income was KRW 2,119,502 million. Kia also recorded a net profit of KRW 2.12 trillion, an increase of 105.3% YoY.
It employs approximately 40,000 personnel. With an annual production output of around 3 million units, KIA manufacture; Kia Niro, Kia Optima, Kia Soul, Kia Rio and Kia forte brands among others. Kia is almost a dominant brand of Korea and is the market leader there making it one of the Volkswagen competitors across the world.
Other regional or National players
Other regional players that provide competition to the Volkswagen Brand are;
11) Maruti Suzuki
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: February 24, 1981
- Founders: Government of India and Suzuki Motor Corporation
- Headquarters: New Delhi, India
- Area served: India
- Current CEO: Hisashi Takeuchi
- Revenue: INR 1,125,008 million (2023)
- Market capitalization: $36.62 Billion (August 2023)
Maruti Suzuki Ltd is an Automobile Indian Company that was founded in the year 1982. Some of its popular cars include; Wagon R, Omni, Swift, Ciaz, Baleno, Alto 800 and Celerio.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd reported a 42.7% surge in its fourth-quarter profit for the year ended March 31, 2023, beating estimates as the country’s biggest carmaker benefited from strong demand for passenger cars. The company posted a profit of 26.24 billion rupees ($321.2 million) for the quarter ended March 31, compared to 18.39 billion rupees a year ago. In Q1 of FY2023-24, Maruti Suzuki India’s profit rose 145.31% to Rs 2,485 crore, and revenue was up by 22% . In June 2023, Maruti Suzuki’s consolidated net sales were at Rs 32,338.50 crore, up 21.98% YoY. Maruti Suzuki’s standalone net profit jumped 43% YoY to Rs 2,624 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023.
Maruti Suzuki has achieved the highest number of domestic sales by selling 1,966,164 units in the full financial year 2022-23. It has a strong brand value and loyal customer base. It has about 15 vehicles in its product portfolio and has good product lines with good fuel efficiency.
12) Tata Motors
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: 1945
- Founder: J.R.D. Tata
- Headquarters: Mumbai, India
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: N. Chandrasekaran
- Number of employees: 59,000 (2022)
- Revenue: Rs 3.5 lakh crore (2023)
- Market capitalization: $26.86 Billion (August 2023)
Tata Motors Limited was founded in the year 1945 and has its headquarters in Mumbai India. It manufactures buses, sports cars, military cars, and equipment. Examples of Tata vehicle brands include; Daewoo, Tata Hispano, Marcopolo and Jaguar Land Rover. Tata Motors annual revenue is estimated to be around Rs 3.5 lakh crore. Its annual vehicle sales are slightly below 600,000 units.
Tata Motors is pioneering India’s Electric Vehicle transition and is India’s largest selling commercial vehicle manufacturer and is amongst the top three in the passenger vehicles market.
For the full 2022-23 fiscal, Tata Motors reported a net profit of Rs 2,414 crore against a net loss of Rs 11,441 crore. Tata Motors registered total sales of 74,973 vehicles in May 2023. The company has operations in India, the UK, South Korea, and South Africa, with a network of 86 subsidiaries, ten associate companies, four joint ventures, and two joint operations as of March 31, 2022.
13) Mahindra
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive.
- Founded date: 1945
- Founder: J. C. Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra
- Headquarters: Mumbai, India
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Anish Shah
- Production output: 14,076,043 vehicles (2022)
- Revenue: Rs.122,475 crore (US$15 billion)(FY2023)
- Number of employees: 140,619 (2022)
- Market cap: $23.59 Billion (September 2023)
Like Tata Motor, Mahindra in India was founded in the year 1945 and has its headquarters in Mumbai. It’s considered the largest tractor manufacturer in the world and competes for the Indian Market with Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki among others. It employs 140,619 personnel and has annual revenue of around Rs.122,475 crore.
As of FY 2023, Operating income of Mahinda is Rs.12,554 crore (US$1.6 billion) whereas Net income is Rs.11,187 crore (US$1.4 billion). Its Total assets recorded are Rs.205,891 crore (US$26 billion).
The company has it’s headquartered in Mumbai, India with their business operations in about 100 countries globally and approximately 140,619 employees in their company. Their famous models of vehicles are Mahindra XUV500, Mahindra Scorpio, Mahindra KUV100 NXT, Mahindra TUV300, Mahindra Thar, and many more.
14) Mercedes-Benz Group
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: June 28, 1926
- Founders: Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz
- Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Ola Källenius
- Production output: over two million vehicles (2022)
- Revenue: $40.270B (March 31, 2023)
- Number of employees: 168,797 (2022)
- Market capitalization: $80.59B (August 14, 2023)
Mercedes Benz is an international automotive industry that was established during the year 1926 and is headquartered in Germany. It is a division of a German company named Daimler AG. The various products of this brand are automobiles, trucks, buses, internal combustion engines, and luxury vehicles. The company has its manufacturing facilities in about six continents and in 26 countries. The brand is always popular for its technological advancement that starts from the introduction of the internal combustion engine to pre-safe technology. This brand has a stronghold in the developing nation.
In its two business divisions, Mercedes-Benz AG is continually expanding its worldwide production network with around 35 production sites on four continents. The brand is always popular for its technological advancement that starts from the introduction of the internal combustion engine to pre-safe technology. In 2022, the top selling model of Mercedes Benz was The GLC SUV in the US. In 2022 it sold nearly 2.45 million vehicles.
15) Volvo Group
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: April 14, 1927, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Founders: Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson
- Headquarters: Gothenburg, Sweden
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Martin Lundstedt
- Production output: 615,000 (2022)
- Revenue: 473.479 billion kr (2022)
- Number of employees: over 102,155 (2022)
- Market capitalization: $41.84 Billion (August 2023)
Volvo is a popular manufacturing company that was established during the year 1927 and is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its main activities are the production, distribution, and sale of buses, trucks, and construction equipment; it also supplies industrial and marine drive systems. The company also produces sedan vehicles, sport utility vehicles, marine, industrial engines, and construction equipment. Volvo cars have about 2,300 dealers and their vehicles are sold worldwide. Volvo focuses on quality and durability of cars by taking the utmost care with the materials used in its manufacturing.
As of 2022, it has plants in 19 countries, with 10 other countries having independent assemblers of Volvo products.
During the first five months of 2023, the company sold 275,312 cars. In full-year 2022, Volvo global sales contracted by 12% to 615,121 cars with the XC60 against the most-popular model worldwide.
16) Audi
- Product Type: Automobiles
- Industry: Automotive
- Founded date: April 16, 1909, Ingolstadt, Germany
- Founders: August Horch
- Headquarters: Ingolstadt, Germany
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Markus Duesmann
- Price: Starting at $65,900
- Revenue: EUR 34.2 billion (H1, 2023)
- Market capitalization: $82.99 Billion (August 2023)
- Number of employees: 87,000 (2022)
Audi is a German company that produces luxury vehicles and is headquartered in Germany. It has about 11 production units across nine countries. Audi cars are placed in a high position in the market and their main target groups are rich executives and professionals. The various brands of Audi are Audio A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, Q3, Q5, Q7, R8, and TT. These cars are available in petrol and diesel. Audi’s cars range from hatchback to luxury SUVs. Audi cars are equipped with many unique and strong features like parking sensors, LED illuminated interiors, Airbags, etc. It has the latest technologies like Quattro and FSI to increase the performance of the engine.
Between January and June 2023, the brand group progressively delivered a total of 919,548 Audi, Bentley, and Lamborghini vehicles. For 2023, the Audi Group continues to expect deliveries of between 1.8 million and 1.9 million vehicles and revenue of between EUR 69 million and EUR 72 billion.
According to the Audi Report 2022, Audi sold 1,638,638 cars worldwide in 2022. Globally, Audi delivered 118,196 electric models to customers in 2022 — a 44.3% increase but only 7% of all Audis sold worldwide in 2022. As of January 2022, Audi had 87,000 employees worldwide.
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