Automaker

From Free net encyclopedia

Automakers or automobile manufacturers are companies that design and manufacture automobiles. Most of them are based in Germany, Japan, South Korea or the United States.

They are often influential political groups, hence they often affect environmental issues.

They also can be thought of as primarily financial services companies, as the majority of their profits come from the loans they give to people to buy their cars. In some cases this is the only source of profit.

While automakers are headquarted in a smaller number of countries, manufacturing facilities exist in a large number of countries. Some countries simply have cheaper labor. Other countries will encourage or mandate a certain amount of local employment and use of locally-produced parts before an automaker is allowed to sell in a country. Others have prohibitive tariffs that lead automakers to produce locally. For instance, the U.S. has a relatively low tariff of 2.5% for imported automobiles. Yet its tariff for imported pickup trucks is 25%, thus hurting the competitiveness of imported pickups. As a result, manufacturers assemble pickups intended for the American market in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, as these countries are parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Automaker listing

• General Motors
• Toyota
• Honda
• Nissan Motors
• Fiat
• Ford Motor Company
• Hyundai Motor Company
• DaimlerChrysler
• Volkswagen Group

See List of automobile manufacturers for more.

See also

• Effects of the automobile on societies
• Japanese automobile industry
• Manufacturingde:Automobilindustrie