Who owns what in the motoring world?

Technology giant Apple made headlines recently when the company was linked with a £1.5 billion deal to buy Formula One team owner and supercar manufacturer McLaren Technology Group.

While both parties steered away from confirming the talks — Apple stated that it “does not comment on rumours or speculation”, while McLaren declared that “We can confirm that McLaren is not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment” — it has given rise to a discussion about just who owns what in the motoring world.

Join the UK’s largest used van retailer Van Monster as they look to answer this question. You may be surprised about at some of the results.

(Note: The headings below all refer to parent companies, with the brands they own discussed in the paragraphs which follow)

BMW Group

Year established: 1916

Brands: BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited

Number of employees (as of 2015): 122,244

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 2,247,485

Daimler AG

Year established: Daimler-Benz was formed in 1926, though the Daimler AG name wasn’t used until DaimlerChrysler renamed itself in October 2007.

Brands: Freightliner Trucks, Mercedes-Benz, Setra Bus, Smart, Thomas Bus, Western Star Trucks

Number of employees (as of 2015): 284,015

Total number of unit sales in 2015: Approximately 2.9 million vehicles.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Year established: FIAT was established in 1899

Brands: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, FIAT, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Ram Trucks

Number of employees (as of 2015): 238,162 (this total included Ferrari, which became a standalone company at the beginning of 2016)

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 4.6 million

Ford Motor Company

Year established: The Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903.

Brands: Ford and Lincoln

Number of employees (as of 2015): Approximately 199,000 employees

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: Approximately 6,635,000 vehicles at wholesale

General Motors

Year established: 1908

Brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall

Number of employees (as of 2015): 215,000

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 9.8 million

Honda Motor Co. Ltd

Year established: 1948

Brands: Honda, Acura

Number of employees (as of 2016 fiscal year): 208,730

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2016 fiscal year: 4,743,000

Hyundai Motor Company

Year established: 1967

Brands: Hyundai, Kia

Number of employees (as of 2015): 262,463

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 8.01 million

Mazda Motor Corporation

Year established: The Toyo Cork Kogyo Company was formed in 1920, with the company changing its name to Mazda Motor Corporation in 1984.

Brands: Mazda Motor Corporation is mostly independently owned, though Ford Motor Company does have a small stake in the company.

Number of employees (as of March 31^st 2016): 46,398

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015-16 fiscal year: 1,534,000

Mitsubishi Corporation

Year established: The new Mitsubishi Shoji was founded in 1954, with the company given its official English name Mitsubishi Corporation in 1971.

Brands: Mitsubishi is independently owned.

Number of employees (as of 2015): Approximately 70,000 professionals

PSA Group

Year established: Citroën S.A. and Peugeot S.A. merged to form the PSA Peugeot Citroën group in 1976. However, the name PSA Group wasn’t established until 2016.

Brands: Peugeot, Citroën

Number of employees (as of 2016): 184,000

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: Approximately three million

Renault-Nissan Alliance

Year established: Nissan — 1933 (though the name Nissan Motor Co. Ltd wasn’t used until 1934), Renault — 1899.

Brands: Dacia, Datsun, Infiniti, Lada, Nissan, Renault, Renault Samsung Motors, Venucia

Number of employees (as of 2016): Nissan — 150,000, Renault — 120,136

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 8.5 million

Subaru

Year established: Subaru is actually the vehicle manufacturing division of Fuji Heavy Industries, which was established in 1917.

Brands: Subaru, though Toyota is a minority partner.

Number of employees (as of March 31^st 2016): Fuji Heavy Industries has 14,234 employees

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in FYE March 2015: 910,700

Suzuki

Year established: Suzuki Loom Works was established in 1909, with the firm incorporated in 1920.

Brands: Various Suzuki subsidiaries across the globe.

Number of employees (as of end of March 2016): 14,932

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 3,034,081

Tata Motors

Year established: Tata Motors is part of the Tata Group, which was formed in 1868. Tata Motors was established in 1945.

Brands: Jaguar, Land Rover

Number of employees (as of 2016): 60,000

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2016: Approximately nine million

Toyota Motor Corporation

Year established: 1937

Brands: Daihatsu, Lexus, Toyota

Number of employees (as of fiscal year of 2016): 348,877

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2016 fiscal year: 8,681,000

Volkswagen Group

Year established: 1937

Brands: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, MAN Truck & Bus, Porsche, Scania, SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen

Number of employees (as of 2015): 610,076

Number of automobiles delivered to customers in 2015: 10,009,605