YAMAHA

A multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, motorcycles, power sports equipment, and electronics.

Yamaha was established in 1897 as a piano and reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha as Nippon Gakki Company, Limited (Literally Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Co.) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture.

The company's origins as a musical instrument manufacturer is still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks.

Headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan.

HYUNDAI

World’s fourth largest automaker in terms of units sold and one of the Big Asian Four (with Toyota, Honda and Nissan).

Hyundai means "modernity" in Korean.

Chung Ju-Yung founded the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company in 1947. Hyundai Motor Company was later established in 1967.

Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

LIMOUSINE

It is not a brand of car but a type of car. It is a luxury vehicle sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coach builder.

The first automobile limousine, built in 1902, was designed so the driver sat outside under a covered compartment.

The first “stretch limousine” was created in Fort Smith, Arkansas around 1928 by a coach company named Armbruster.

The word limousine is derived from the name of the French region Limousin, because this covered compartment physically resembled the cloak hood worn by the shepherds there.

VOLKSWAGEN

An automobile manufacturer and mobility organisation and is the pioneer brand within the Volkswagen Group, which contains the car brands Audi AG, Bentley Motors Limited, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A, SEAT, Škoda Auto and heavy goods vehicle manufacturer Scania AB.

In the early 1930s German auto industry was still largely composed of luxury models, and the average German rarely could afford something more than a motorcycle. Seeking a potential new market, some auto industries begun independent projects of a "Volks Auto" (people's automobile)

In 1933, with many of the above projects still in development or early stages of production, Adolf Hitler declared his intentions for a state-sponsored "Volkswagen" program. Despite heavy lobbing in favor of one of the existing projects, Hitler choose to sponsor an all new, state owned factory. The engineer chosen for the task was Ferdinand Porsche.

On 28 May 1937, the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH was established by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront. It was later renamed "Volkswagenwerk GmbH" on 16 September 1938.

Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, in which it is pronounced. Its current tagline or slogan is Das Auto (in English The Car).

Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.

TOYOTA

The world's largest automaker by sales.

Vehicles were originally sold under the name "Toyoda" (トヨダ), from the family name of the company's founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. In September 1936, the company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Out of 27,000 entries the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for "Toyoda" in a circle. But Risaburo Toyoda, who had married into the family and was not born with that name, preferred "Toyota" (トヨタ) because it took eight brush strokes (a fortuitous number) to write in Japanese, was visually simpler (leaving off two ticks at the end) and with a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one (voiced consonant is considered "murky" or "muddy" sound compared to the voiceless consonant, which is "clear"). Since "Toyoda" literally means "fertile rice paddies", changing the name also helped to distance the company from associations with old-fashioned farming. The newly formed word was trademarked and the company was registered in August 1937 as the "Toyota Motor Company".

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

BMW

German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company. Parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Known for its performance and luxury vehicles.

BMW is acronym for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. (English: Bavarian Motor Works)

Founded in 1916 by Franz Josef Popp .

Headquartered at Munich, Germany.

OPEL

European car manufacturer, now part of General Motors.

Named after surname of it's founder Adam Opel.

The company was founded in Rüsselsheim on 21 January 1863 by Adam Opel,began making automobiles in 1899, and was acquired by General Motors in 1929.

Headquartered at Rüsselsheim, Germany.

AUDI

A famous car brand. It is part of the Volkswagen Group.

The company traces its origins back to 1899 and it's founder August Horch. The first Horch automobile was produced in 1901 in Zwickau. In 1909, Horch was forced out of the company he had founded. He then started a new company in Zwickau and continued using the Horch brand.

His former partners sued him for trademark infringement and a German court determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company. August Horch was barred from using his own family name in his new car business, so he called a meeting at the apartment of Franz Fikentscher to come up with a new name for his company. During this meeting Franz's son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father – audiatur et altera pars... wouldn't it be a good idea to call it audi instead of horch?". "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" or "hear", which is "Audi" in Latin (compare audible). The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting. It is sometimes incorrectly said that AUDI is a acronym which stands for "Auto Union Deutschland Ingolstadt", but this is merely a clever backronym and not the true origin of the company name.

Audi is headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany.

REVA

A brand of electric cars from India.

REVA is acronym of Revolutionary Electric Vehicle Alternative.

It is manufactured by the REVA Electric Car Company (RECC) in Bangalore (India), currently the world's leading electric car manufacturing company. It's production started in 2001.

Headquartered at Bangalore, India.

MITSUBISHI

A Japanese conglomerate consisting of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy.

The name Mitsubishi consists of two parts: "mitsu" meaning "three" and "hishi" (which becomes "bishi" in the middle of a word) meaning "water caltrop" (also called "water chestnut"), and hence "rhombus", which is reflected in the company's famous logo. It is also translated as "three diamonds".

The Mitsubishi company was first established as a shipping firm by Yataro Iwasaki in 1870.

FIAT

An automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group. Fiat has also manufactured railroad vehicles, tanks and aircraft.

FIAT is acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin).

Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli.

Headquartered in Turin, Italy.

MERCEDES-BENZ: d mOst intErestinG oNe

Manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks.

Initially, the inventors used their own names – “Benz” and “Daimler” and both had different companies.

Mercédès – a Spanish girl’s name meaning ‘grace’ – was the name of the daughter born in 1889 to the Austrian businessman, Emil Jellinek, who had homes in Baden near Vienna and Nice.

Jellinek deals in car business and demanded ever faster and more powerful vehicles from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG)- the company of G. Daimler . From 1899, Jellinek entered these vehicles in race meetings – first and foremost of which was the Nice Week – where he would race under his pseudonym Mercédès - the name of his daughter, ten years old at the time, and a name that was well known in motoring circles. In the early days, the name referred to the team and driver – not to an automotive brand. At the beginning of April 1900, Jellinek made an agreement with DMG concerning sales of cars and engines and the decision was taken to use the Jellinek’s pseudonym as a product name. The first vehicle to be fitted with the new engine, a 35-hp racing car, was delivered to Jellinek by DMG on December 22, 1900. This first ‘Mercedes’, developed by Wilhelm Maybach, the chief engineer at DMG, caused quite a stir at the beginning of the new century. With its low center of gravity, pressed-steel frame, lightweight high-performance engine and honeycomb radiator, it featured numerous innovations and is regarded today as the first modern automobile. On June 23, 1902, ‘Mercédès’ was lodged as the trade name and this was legally registered on September 26.

Due to inflation after the First World War, the former rivals, DMG and Benz & Cie.(company of  Karl Benz), formed a syndicate in 1924 in order to standardize design and production, as well as purchasing, sales and advertising, and thereby remain competitive. During this period, the two companies generally marketed their products jointly, although still under separate trademarks- 'Benz' & 'Mercedes'.

Two years later, in June 1926, the two oldest motor manufacturers merged to form Daimler-Benz AG. At this point, two brand names 'Mercedes' and equally famous name ‘Benz’ combined to form the famous Mercedes-Benz.

'Mercedes' Jellinek , Emil Jellinek's ten-year-old daughter

Founded in 1881 by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG (formerly DaimlerChrysler AG), after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz.

Headquartered at Stuttgart, Germany.

VOLVO

Supplier of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services.

Volvo means "I roll" in Latin.

Volvo was incorporated in 1915 as a subsidiary of AB SKF, a Swedish ball bearing manufacturer but it was officially founded on 14 April 1927.

Headquartered at Gothenburg, Sweden.