Automotive

Charted: Carmakers’ Revenue per Employee

Published

1 year ago

March 3, 2024

David Eduardo Zuleta Soriano

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Bruno Venditti

Graphic showing carmaker's revenue per employee.

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.

Company	Employees	Revenue (USD billions)	Revenue per Employee (USD millions)
Kia	34,178	$72.67	$2.13
Hyundai	63,942	$117.98	$1.85
Ferrari	4,961	$5.85	$1.18
Polestar	2,377	$2.65	$1.12
BMW	149,475	$159.50	$1.07
General Motors	167,000	$169,72	$1.02
Ford	173,000	$169.81	$0.98
Mercedes-Benz	169,355	$160.61	$0.95
Maruti Suzuki India	16,259	$13.82	$0.85
Volvo Car	42,300	$35.89	$0.85
Subaru	37,521	$29.15	$0.78
Toyota	375,235	$283.97	$0.76
Aston Martin	2,473	$1.83	$0.74
Tofaş Türk	5,528	$4.07	$0.74
Tesla	127,855	$94.02	$0.74
Mitsubishi Motors	28,428	$18.59	$0.65
Honda	197,039	$128.24	$0.65
Mazda	48,481	$31.17	$0.64
Nissan	131,719	$82.57	$0.63
Ford Otosan	21,007	$12.26	$0.58

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.

Related Topics:toyota volvo ferrari Mitsubishi subaru kia automaker automakers mazda tesla honda general motors Nissan BMW gm ford hyundai

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Jobs

Ranked: The Top 10 U.S. States by Auto Manufacturing Jobs

The U.S. auto industry employs over 1 million people in 2025, with the top 10 states accounting for over half of the total.

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2025

Niccolo Conte

This chart ranks the top 10 U.S. states by the number of auto manufacturing jobs in 2025, including vehicles and auto parts production.

Ranked: The Top 10 U.S. States by Auto Manufacturing Jobs

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Automobile manufacturing continues to be a major source of employment across America, employing over a million people in 2025.

From Detroit’s “Motor City” heritage in Michigan to emerging plants in Southern states like Kentucky and Alabama, the U.S. has several vehicle manufacturing hubs.

This infographic ranks the top 10 U.S. states by total auto manufacturing jobs as of February 2025, using preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which only provides data for the top 10 states. It breaks down employment by vehicle manufacturing and assembly, body/trailer manufacturing, and vehicle parts manufacturing.

America’s Auto Manufacturing Hubs by Employees

Together, the top 10 states employ over 520,000 workers in auto manufacturing—making up more than half of the industry’s nationwide employment.

Here’s how the top 10 states stack up by auto manufacturing employment, as of February 2025:

Rank	State	Vehicles Manufacturing	Bodies and Trailers	Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	Total Employees	Annual growth rate
1	Michigan	49K	0	115K	164K	-3.8%
2	Indiana	0	39K	53K	92K	-2.0%
3	Ohio	19K	0	65K	84K	-1.9%
4	Kentucky	24K	0	34K	58K	-0.7%
5	Alabama	23K	0	30K	53K	0.1%
6	California	25K	0	0	25K	-6.5%
7	Texas	16K	0	0	16K	-0.7%
8	Missouri	14K	0	0	14K	0.0%
9	New York	0	0	8K	8K	-0.5%
10	Mississippi	0	0	6K	6K	-0.1%

States in the Midwest remain the centers of auto manufacturing in America.

Michigan leads the pack with 164,000 auto manufacturing jobs, accounting for over 15% of all such jobs in the country. Its dominance is driven by legacy automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (previously Chrysler), who have significant manufacturing footprints in Detroit.

States like Indiana and Ohio are also heavily invested in parts production, with Indiana also leading in bodies and trailers manufacturing.

Meanwhile, Southern states are becoming increasingly important for vehicle manufacturing, with Kentucky and Alabama attracting investments from foreign automakers like Toyota, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz.

Overall, employment in U.S. auto manufacturing is down 12.7% from a year ago, with the parts manufacturing segment taking the biggest hit at -17.8%. California has seen the biggest decline in jobs in this segment, dropping 6.5% from February 2024 levels.

The State of the U.S. Auto Industry

The U.S. auto industry is facing speed bumps from the latest round of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which include a 25% levy on imported auto parts and completely built up vehicles.

S&P Global forecasts that U.S. light vehicle sales will fall by 700,000 units in 2025, and North American production will decline by nearly 1.3 million units as a result of the new tariffs. Increased manufacturing costs from tariffs on auto parts are also likely to result in higher vehicle prices.