9. Cadillac
Cadillac was founded in 1901 by William Murphy, Lemuel Bowen, Henry M. Leland. After a disagreement between Henry Ford and his investors, Henry Ford left his company with several partners. After that William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen brought in Henry M. Leland to appraise the equipment and the abandoned ford factory for sale but Leland had persuaded Murphy and Bowen to produce cars. They named the new company after the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The company was purchased by General Motors in 1909.
8. Fiat
Fiat was founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli with another 9 investors in Italy. FIAT is short for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin)
7. Renault
Renault was also founded in February 1899 by three Renault brothers Louis Renault, Marcel Renault and Fernand Renault in France.
6. Land Rover
Land Rover was founded in 1896 by Sumner and Spurrier families in United Kingdom. The company was named initially as Lancashire Steam Motor Company and later changed its name into Leyland Motors Limited. The company had several owners and mergers through the years therefore the company name was changed several times. Currently the company is known as Jaguar Land Rover since 2013.
5. Škoda Auto
Škoda Auto is a Czech motor company founded in 1895 by Václav Laurin and Václav Klement as Laurin & Klement. In 1925, the company was acquired by Škoda Works and in 1948 the company became a state owned company. After 1991 it was gradually became a part of Volkswagen company in Germany
4. Mercedes Benz
Mercedes Benz was founded in 1883 by Karl Benz as Benz & Cie. It was combined with DMG or Daimler Motors Corporation and formed Mercedes Benz in 1926.
3. Opel Automobile GmBH
Opel automobiles was founded in 1862 by Adam Opel in Germany. But the first car was not manufactures until 1889. It was owned by General motors in 1929 until 2017. In 2017 it was bought by PSA group. And in 2021 by Stellantis.
2. Tatra
Tatra was founded in 1850 by Ignác Šustala in Czech Republic under the name Ignatz Schustala & Company. It is one of the oldest automobile companies in the world producing cars with a continous history. Tatra holds the record for producing world’s first aerodynamic car module which is Tatra 77.
- Peugeot
Peugeot was founded in 1810 as a family business in France. First they started their business as coffee mill company and eventually they began manufacturing automobiles. Currently the car brand is owned by Stellantis.
Facts and DIY 