Comparing Carmaker Revenue vs. Country GDP

As of July 2022, the global car and manufacturing market was worth about $2.9 trillion.

What companies are currently dominating this massive industry, and how much revenue do they generate on a yearly basis compared to the economic output of countries?

To help put things into perspective, this graphic by Vanarama looks at the revenue of the world’s top carmakers, and compares each company’s revenue to the gross domestic product (GDP) of 196 countries worldwide.

The World’s Largest Carmakers by Revenue

Based on data from CompaniesMarketCap.com, here’s a look at some of the biggest carmakers in the world, and how much revenue they brought in from Q1 2021 to Q1 2022:

In first place was German car manufacturer Volkswagen, which generated about $291 billion in revenue between Q1 2022 and Q1 2022—that’s more spending power than 76% of the countries included in the dataset.

In 2021, Volkswagen’s best-selling vehicles were the Tiguan, a mid-size SUV, and the Polo, a compact hatchback. In addition to the Volkswagen brand, the company itself owns a handful of luxury car brands including Audi, Bentley, and Porsche.

Toyota came in second place, with a total of $276 billion in revenue from Q1 2021 to Q1 2022. While the Japanese manufacturer is popular in its country of origin, America is actually its largest market—in 2021, more than 2.3 million Toyota vehicles were sold in the United States, nearly double the amount sold in Japan.

How Important are These Brands to Their Countries’ GDPs?

As this graphic illustrates, these car manufacturers generate billions in revenue each year. Their financial power is so significant, they’ve become big parts of their home countries’ national economies.

But just how important are these brands to their countries of origin? Here’s a look at 20 different carmakers, as a percentage of their country of origin’s GDP:

One carmaker is nearly in the double digits—the revenue from Dutch automobile manufacturer Stellantis is equivalent to approximately 9.95% of the Netherland’s GDP.

Founded in 2021, Stellantis is comprised of 16 different international car brands, including well-known Europeans brands like Vauxhall and Citroen, as well as some American manufacturers like Dodge and Chrysler.

Other countries also have a large combined output from automakers, including Japan (11.91%) and Germany (13.97%).

But it’s important to note that each company’s revenue is not wholly contained in their home country’s GDP. Many major automakers have international subsidiaries for localized production, with revenue falling under those countries’ GDPs.

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.