Headquarters: Rüsselsheim am Main, Germany Established: 21 January 1862 Founder(s): Adam Opel Adam Opel started manufacturing sewing machines in Germany in 1863. He went on to make bicycles, and, in 1899, the first Opel car. In 1909, Opel launched the 'Dok

Headquarters: Yokohama, Japan Established: 26 December 1933 Founder(s): Yoshisuke Aikawa Nissan Motor Company was founded as the Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works, which produced its first car, the DAT, in 1914. DAT is an acronym for the names of the company's th

Drive your Ambition Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan Established: 22 April 1970 Founder(s): N/A Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan is part of the Mitsubishi Group — a large company that began as a shipping and shipbuilding business in the 1870s. Mitsubishi b

Headquarters: Oxford, England, UK (Main) / Munich, Germany (BMW) Established: 1959 Founder(s): Alec Issigonis One of the most popular cars in recent years is the new MINI, launched by BMW's MINI subsidiary in 2001. This small, nimble car is a modern interp

Headquarters: Dearborn, Michigan, USA Established: 4 November 1938 Founder(s): Edsel Ford In 1935, Edsel Ford (son of Henry) founded a new division within Ford Motor Company, named 'Mercury' after the fleet-footed Roman messenger god. The death of Edsel Fo

Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany Established: 28 June 1926 Founder(s): Karl Benz & Gottlieb Daimler The history of Mercedes-Benz reaches back to the dawn of the automotive era. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler were each in Germany, working independently to p

Headquarters: Woking, England, UK Established: 2 December 1985 Founder(s): Bruce McLaren Since 1990, McLaren Automotive of England has designed and produced a limited number of exclusive, high-performance road cars. The organization is named after the late

Headquarters: Hiroshima, Japan Established: 30 January 1920 Founder(s): Jujiro Matsuda The Toyo Kogyo Co. of Hiroshima, Japan, the predecessor of Mazda Motor Corporation, built its first vehicle, the Mazda-Go three-wheeled truck, in 1931. All of the compan

Excellence through passion Headquarters: Modena, Italy Established: 1 December 1914 Founder(s): Alfieri Maserati Maserati has produced successful racing cars and desirable sports cars for over 80 years. In 1926, Alfieri Maserati and his brothers built thei