|
Car Manufacturers - page 3
|
| The first part of this article took a look at the four largest manufacturers of cars, from General Motors to Volkswagen. Then we covered DaimlerChrysler to Nissan. This section is a brief discussion of Hyundai, Renault, Suzuki and FIAT. | |
Hyundai, Renault, Suzuki and FIAT | | Hyundai Kia Automotive Group
The South Korean firm of Hyundai is a massive business covering a wide range of activities from construction to retail, and yet it seems that they have become a major manufacturer almost from nowhere. | | | From the outset, the company collaborated with other companies, their first car being a Cortina produced, of course, with input from the Ford Motor Company. However, it is only in the last 10 years that they have risen to their current prominence. The company offer some interesting incentives to buyers - for example the first across the range 5 year warranty; we think that's a pretty good offering, especially as some makers of premium brands are still offering warranties of just two years on their products. Given the amount of money buyers invest in cars, more makers should offer the terms that Hyundai do. | | Renault SA
Renault have been producing cars in France for well over 100 years now, and have been responsible for a number of great cars throughout the years. For many years, the company was owned by the French state, but like many other nationalised companies they were privatised in the late 1990s. The current strength of the company seems to be an ability to achive particularly high scores in safety tests and that's certainly no bad thing. The company also continues to boast a range of successful models including the Clio which has been one of the best selling hatchbacks for a number of years. | | | The company's style is distinctive, and they're certainly not afraid of trying something new. Some of their innovations, such as the Espace, have led to the formation of new market sectors into which other manufacturers have followed, though other developments have been less successful. | | | The company are currently working very closely with Nissan, sharing a CEO in Carlos Ghosn. | | Suzuki
Suzuki are another Japanese manufacturer that was, until recently, better known for its motorcycles than its passenger cars. However, like Honda, they've applied their design skills and their manufacturing expertise, to develop a motor business that eclipses their motorcycle origins. | | | Suzuki's Vitara was one of the vehicles that changed their fortunes; at a time when they were known for their bikes and small cars, it offered something new, and to this day the Vitra and Grand Vitra continue to be popular models. However, the latest model Swift looks like an even more successful development for the company. At a time when many complain that all manufacturer's cars look the same, and with huge competition in the small car market, the Swift actually looks like something different. The lines are simple yet elegant, and the car seems to be great value for money. Techonology from this latest Swift, released in 2004 is also being leased to other manufacturers, so it looks as if Suzuki have a sucess on their hands. | | FIAT
FIAT is one of only a handful of major manufacturers which is not named after an major figure from the history of motoring. Rather, it's an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino. However, it does have a number of great brands which are more romantically named, in Lancia, Maseratti, Alfa Romeo and of course Ferarri. | | | FIAT itself has some great models including the Punto, and now the larger Grande Punto, but motoring enthusiasts tend to be more in love with the cars of the subsiduaries - in particular Lancias for their Rally heritage, Alfa for their gorgeous looks, and Ferarri for their fantastic supercars, and of course their F1 successes. | | | Recently, the Maseratti brand has been offering some great cars with similar performance to the Ferarris, but at considerably lower prices. And in an exciting development Alfa have produced the fantastic 8C Competizione which revives the glorious 8C badge from their past; it is said that the company will only produce 500 of these cars, and if that's true we expect that used prices will actually be higher than the list price that Alfa are selling them for, as so many people will be keen to get their hands on the very scarce supply. A new Lancia Stratos concept was also shown at the 2006 Paris motorshow. | |
|
Other Information
| Here at the Car Club, we're attempting to build a database of car information. In the long term we hope to have everything from crash ratings to tyre pressures, including 0-60 times, CO2 ratings and any other piece of data you can imagine. | |
Information by: Hobbs
| Choosing which car to buy can be a complex process, with many factors to be considered. It seems the manufacturers are diversifying so that they have a car of every type in their range, so there seem to be so many cars to choose from. As part of our series of features that help you to find the right new or used car, this article takes a brief look at the major car makes. Elsewhere, we'll be taking a more detailed look at each manufacturer, and the individual car models too. | |
Information by: Hobbs
| Continuing our feature about the major car manufacturers. This part of the article covers the fifth, sixth and seventh biggest worldwide manufactuers of automobiles, namely DaimlerChrysler, and Japan's Honda and Nissan. | | | The initial part of this article covered GM, Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen. | |
Information by: Hobbs
| Alfa Romeo started life in 1907 as a co-operation between the French automobile maker Darracq and Cavaliere Ugo Stella, and originally its name was Darracq Itaaliana. | |
Information by: Hobbs
| Volkswagen own several of the UKs most popular brands in the form of Volkswagen itself plus Audi, SEAT and Skoda, plus the luxury brand Bentley, and supercar manufacturers Lamborghini and Bugatti. | |
Information by: Hobbs
Please select a manufacturer for more information.
Information about a variety of manufacturers' cars is available by selecting one of the links from this list.
|
|
|
