After ten years of uninterrupted expansion, global vehicle production significantly decreased in 2019, with a yearly loss of more than 5%. Over 92 million vehicles were produced by manufacturers in the world in 2019, including 67 million cars and 25 million commercial vehicles. Due to plant shutdowns brought on by the general economic crisis that started in March of that year, the fall in automotive production persisted well into 2020. In comparison to the same time in 2019, the total statistics from Jan. 2020 through Sept. 2020 revealed a 22.9% decline in worldwide vehicle manufacturing. Here, we examine the top six Automobile-Producing Nations interms of the volume of automobiles produced. The Big Three automakers controlled the U.S. and international markets for decades but following the oil crisis of the 1970s and the consequent spike in gas costs, Japanese manufacturers started to take market share away from the Big Three. A devoted following of buyers looking for less expensive, fuel-efficient cars drew Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. The Japanese automakers kept up the pressure on the Big Three by the middle of the 1980s, expanding their brands to include lines of luxury vehicles as well.
Since then, a variety of new difficulties have been experienced by General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford, such as inadequate management, labor disputes, and growing manufacturing costs. It is believed that the Big Three’s earnings (and losses) serve as a barometer for the general health of the US economy. Chrysler and General Motors both shut down thousands of dealerships in 2009, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and received bailout money from the U.S. Treasury through a loan from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
1. China
The world’s largest manufacturer, China, is also the country with the most automobiles produced. Around 26 million motor vehicles, or nearly 28% of all automobiles and trucks produced in the nation, were completed in 2019. A total of 4.3 million vehicles were produced for commercial purposes, accounting for the remaining 83% of China’s manufacturing. The biggest automaker in China is SAIC Motor Company Ltd. (600104.SS), which sold 6.2 million vehicles in 2019.
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2. United States of America
With slightly under 12% of the global auto market, the United States is the second-largest automobile manufacturer in the world, despite only producing 11 million cars and trucks in 2019. The United States manufactured more commercial vehicles than any other nation, including more than five times as many as Japan, despite producing fewer passenger automobiles than Japan and Germany.
3. Japan
In 2019, 9.7 million vehicles were produced in Japan, or roughly 10.5% of all vehicles manufactured worldwide. 8.3 million passenger automobiles and over 1.4 million commercial vehicles were produced in the nation. Japan exported 4.71 million automobiles, trucks, and buses in 2017. In 2018, when the nation exported 4.82 million vehicles, this number rose by 2.3%. In 2019, the country exported 4.82 million automobiles, keeping exports steady. During the first half of the year, the number of new cars sold in the United States increased by 13%, with the number of new vehicles sold in the United States increasing by 8%.
4. Germany
In 2019, leading German automakers Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, and Daimler AG manufactured a combined 4.7 million vehicles. This statistic reflected a 17.4% drop from production levels in 2017 and a 9% drop from levels in 2018. The main cause of the decline in sales, according to German auto lobby group VDA, was a decline in demand from outside markets. Germany had produced over 2 million passenger automobiles in the first eight months of 2020 as of August 2020, a 36% decrease from the same time in 2019. The decline in manufacturing was attributed to fewer working days and closures brought on by the world economic crisis.
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5. India
India produces vehicles for its population of approximately 1.3 billion people, despite not being well-known in America or Europe. India produced 4.5 million vehicles in total in 2019, a 12.2% decrease from the previous year. In terms of manufacturing vehicles, passenger automobiles made up about 80% and commercial vehicles 20%. About 2.16 million automobiles were produced by Indian automakers in the first three quarters of 2020, a decrease of 38.4% from the 3.5 million vehicles produced in the same period in 2019.
6. Mexico
Mexico overtakes South Korea to claim the sixth spot on our list of nations with the highest car production. Mexico produced 3.9 million vehicles in total in 2019, including 1.38 million passenger cars and 2.6 million commercial vehicles. This was a 2.8% decrease from 2017 to 2018 on an annual basis.
Along with the other nations on our list, Mexico’s auto manufacturing fell off in 2020. Over 2.2 million automobiles were produced by Mexican automakers in the first three quarters of 2020, a decrease of 29.4% from the 3.1 million vehicles produced in the same period in 2019.
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