No other time in the history of the world has the human race witnessed a massive production of cars as this era is witnessing. More cars are being manufactured worldwide in what seems to be the automobile version of an arms-race.
In 2019, over 92 million vehicles were produced worldwide. Although this figure shows a 5 per cent decline from the previous year, it still shows the speed at which the world is being populated by cars. Here are the top 5 countries that produce the most cars.
1. China
China is the leading manufacturer of cars. In 2018, China produced 25 million motor vehicles, which is 28% of all cars and trucks produced worldwide. Over 21.5 million of the motor vehicles (86%) produced were passenger cars, while the rest were for commercial purposes.
China has a long list of automobile manufacturers that can meet up with the world’s continuous demand for both passenger cars and vehicles for commercial use. Manufacturers such as BAIC, Brilliance, BYD, Byton and Changan ensure that production quotas are met. Others include Great Wall, Hafei and Lifan.
2. United States
With over 12 million cars and trucks produced in 2018, the United States comes second on the list of countries that produce the most cars. With this number, the United States owns just over 13 percent of the market share of car production.
The United States produces twice as many commercial vehicles than any other country, and the figure is five times the numbers produced by Japan and 24 times when compared to Germany. But in all these, the second largest producer of cars is behind Japan and Germany in the production of passenger cars.
Also, most of the cars coming out of the United States have the imprint of General Motors Company, which owns over 17.5% of the country’s automobile market share.
3. Japan
Japan comes third on the list. The Asian powerhouse turned out almost 9.5 million vehicles in 2018 or 10% of the world’s vehicles for that year.
With popular car brands like Acura, Honda, Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Infiniti and Suzuki headquartered in the country, Japan holds the record of the country with the highest amount of car exports in the world.
Toyota, one of the most popular car brands in the world, is responsible for 29% of Japan’s automobile manufacturing, while Honda and Nissan come second and third respectively.
4. Germany
Germany is the home to some of the world’s most fantastic car brands such as Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Opel, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. It has another set of over 15 car manufacturers classified as minor car producers.
In 2018, Germany produced about 6 million cars. Volkswagen is the leading manufacturer of cars in the country, with over 700,000 cars; a figure that includes the famous Porsche. Closely trailing Volkswagen is Mercedes-Benz, the second largest manufacturer in Germany, with just a little over 9% of the market share.
5. India
In the league of countries manufacturing the most cars, India may come off like a dark horse. But make no mistake; India is an industrial powerhouse.
While India’s automobile companies may not have enjoyed much success in America and Europe, India nevertheless supplies vehicles for its over 1 billion citizens.
Figures from 2018 suggest that over 4.8 million vehicles were manufactured in India that year. Majority of these vehicles were personal cars. Tata Motors Limited is the largest manufacturer of cars in the densely populated country. Likewise, India enjoys a healthy share of the export market, with around 650,000 cars exported in 2018.