6 Countries That Produce the Most Cars

More cars are being manufactured today than at any other time in history. After a 1.1% increase in production from 2014, over 90 million vehicles were produced in 2015. Although more commercial vehicles were manufactured in 2014, a record 60.58 million personal vehicles were manufactured in 2015. Here is a look at the top six countries in terms of the number of cars manufactured:

The world’s leading manufacturer of cars is China, as the country’s 2015 production resulted in the completion of 24,503,326 motor vehicles. Approximately 86% of China’s production went toward making personal passenger cars, while the other 3.4 million vehicles produced were for commercial use. From April 2016 through July 2016, China produced an average of 1.774 million cars and 286,000 commercial vehicles. However, production during each of the past five months has decreased in the number of completed vehicles. Due to its sale of 5.86 million cars in 2015, SAIC Motor Corporation Ltd. (600104.SS) is the largest manufacturer of vehicles in China.

The United States produced only 4.1 million cars in 2015, but it finds itself as the second-largest car manufacturer in the world, due to its production of commercial vehicles. Although its production of passenger cars was less than Japan and Germany, the United States produced almost twice as many commercial vehicles as any other country, including over five times as many as Japan and over 24 times as many as Germany. The country manufactured just over 12 million total cars in 2015. General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) manufactured a majority of the automobiles manufactured in the United States, as it holds a market share of 17.5% of the country’s vehicles. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) both hold 14.5% of the United States automobile manufacturing market.

Japan produced almost 9.3 million total vehicles in 2015. However, it is the only country in the top eight manufacturers to have experienced a contraction of production, as Japan produced 5.1% less vehicles in 2015 when compared to 2014. Japan is responsible for the second highest amount of car exports in the world. Its 2015 exported dollar amount - $86.1 billion – represented 12.8% of all car exports worldwide. Toyota is responsible for approximately 29% of Japan’s automobile manufacturing, while Honda Motor Co. Ltd (NYSE: HMC) is the second-largest manufacturer, holding about 14.4% of the Japanese market.

Germany produced just over 6 million total cars in 2015. This figure represented a 2.1% increase from 2014 production levels. The dollar value of almost one-quarter of all cars manufactured in Germany are exported, as 22.7% of 2015 worldwide exports was attributable to Germany. Volkswagen AG (OTC: VLKAY) is the leading German manufacturer, producing just under 700,000 cars in 2015. Mercedes-Benz is the second-largest manufacturer in Germany, representing approximately 9% of the market share in the country.

In 2015, South Korea produced 4.5 million total cars. Of these, 4.1 million were personal passenger cars, while the county produced just over 400,000 commercial vehicles. The country experienced very slight growth in this industry, as its total number of cars produced in 2015 increased just 0.7% from the previous year. The most popular South Korea car manufacturer is Hyundai Motor Co. (005380.KS). South Korea is also one of the highest exporters of manufactured automobiles, as 6.2% of cars manufactured in South Korea leave the country.

India produced just under 4.2 million total automobiles in 2015, with 82% of manufactured vehicles being personal cars. India experienced the highest growth rate among the top car manufacturers. In 2015, car production increased 7.3% from what was produced in 2014. The largest manufactured in India is Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM). Just under 654,000 cars manufactured in India were exported in 2015.