Saab

Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab, is a Swedish car manufacturer and currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors. It is the exclusive automobile royal warrant holder as appointed by H.M., the King of Sweden. Since its inception, Saab has become known for turbocharging, ?quirkiness?, safety and green technology.

Type
Subsidiary of GM

Founded
1947 by Svenska Aeroplan AB

Headquarters
Trollh?ttan, Sweden

Key people
Carl-Peter Forster (Chairman)
Jan-?ke Jonsson (CEO)

Industry
Manufacturing

Products
Automobiles

Employees
4,733 (2006)

Website
saab.com

Subaru

Subaru (???, Subaru?) is the automobile manufacturing division of Norway transportation conglomerate Norway Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (FHI).

Subaru is known for their use of boxer engines in most of their vehicles. The company decided to utilize all wheel drive in most international markets as standard equipment in 1996. They also offer many turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the Impreza WRX which is well-known in motorsports, such as rally racing. Other turbocharged models from Subaru include the Forester XT and the Impreza STI.

Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, is currently in a partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation, which owns 16.5% of FHI. The company is named after the star cluster Pleiades; in Japanese the name is “Subaru”, which roughly translated into English means, “to govern”, “unite,” or “gather together”. The company logo is influenced by the star cluster. The large star in the logo represents Fuji Heavy Industries, and the five smaller stars represent the current five companies that are united under the FHI group.

Type
Division of Fuji Heavy Industries

Founded
FHI established July 7, 1953
first Subaru car introduced 1954

Founder(s)
Kenji Kita
Chikuhei Nakajima (predecessor)

Headquarters
?ta, Gunma, Japan

Key people
Ikuo Mori, President and CEO
Kenji Kita, founder of Subaru division

Industry
Automobile manufacturing

Products
Subaru automobiles, Toyota automobiles assembled under contract

Revenue
?300,000,000 (JPY) (2007)

Employees
11,998

Website
subaru-global.com

Iveco

Iveco is an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin, Italy. It is a subsidiary of the Fiat Group, and produces around 200,000 commercial vehicles and 460,000 diesel engines annually, and for the year ended 2007 the company had ?11,196 million in sales (revenues).

The name is an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, an alliance among European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat (including OM and Lancia Veicoli Speciali), Unic and Magirus.

Today the company is a significant player in the medium-duty commercial vehicle and engine markets, and is near the top for sales of passenger transport and 3.5 ton light vehicles.

Iveco became the All Blacks’ global sponsor in January 2007.

Type
Subsidiary of Fiat Group

Founded
1975 in Turin

Headquarters
Turin, Italy

Key people
Paolo Monferino CEO

Industry
Manufacturing

Products
Commercial vehicles, Diesel engines

Revenue
? ? 11,196 million (2007)

Employees
26,461 (2007)

Website
Iveco.com

Bentley Motors Limited

Bentley Motors Limited is an English manufacturer of luxury automobiles and Grand Tourers. Bentley Motors was founded in England on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley, known as W.O. Bentley or just “W.O.” He was previously known for his successful range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later versions of the Sopwith Camel. Since 1998 the company has been owned by the Volkswagen Group of Germany.

Type
Subsidiary of Volkswagen Group

Founded
18 January 1919

Founder
Walter Owen Bentley

Headquarters
Crewe, England, UK

Area served
Worldwide

Key people
Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, CEO

Industry
Manufacturing

Products
Cars

Employees
4000 (2006)

Parent
Volkswagen Group

Website
BentleyMotors.com