Top 20 Carmakers Ranked by Revenue per Employee

Revenue per employee is an important ratio that roughly measures how much money each employee generates for the company.

In this graphic, creator David Zuleta ranks the top 20 automakers by the revenue generated per employee. Data is based on each company’s market capitalization in 2023, using companiesmarketcap.com.

Kia Leads in Revenue Efficiency

Measuring carmakers’ revenue per employee, Kia emerges as the front-runner, leaving industry giants like Ford and General Motors trailing behind.

The South Korean automaker reached $2.13 million in revenue per employee in 2023. The company’s 34,178 workforce generated a total of $72.67 billion in revenue last year.

The figure starkly contrasts with the last one on the list, Ford Otosan. The company, equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding and based in Turkey, only generated $580,000 per employee, despite its considerable revenue of $12.26 billion.

The presence of Ferrari in the top tier, with $1.18 million per employee, underscores a different strategy where lower volume, high-margin luxury vehicles result in significant revenue per employee.

Among the bigger automakers, BMW and General Motors lead the pack with $1.07 million and $1.02 million per employee, respectively, translating their substantial employee bases into robust revenue streams.

Meanwhile, Tesla, despite its groundbreaking technology, registered revenue of only $740,000 per worker, equal to Aston Martin and Turkish Tofaş Tür. Way ahead of Tesla, another EV maker, Swedish Polestar, achieved $1.12 million and reached fourth place in our rank.

As the data shows, efficiency doesn’t solely reside in the size of the workforce or the legacy of the brand but is also tied to the strategic utilization of human resources.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.