Automotive
Visualized: How Much Revenue Automakers Generate Every Second
How Much Revenue Automakers Generate Every Second
Since their invention, automobiles have been a driving force of the global economy.
Used by millions of people to get to work, transport goods, and travel, the modern automobile has become ubiquitous in our daily lives. So much so, that a whopping 92 million cars were produced in just 2019.
To help us understand the might of the auto industry, this infographic from Parts Geek breaks down the earnings of 19 major car companies by an interesting metricโrevenue per second.
The Full List of Automakers
Below are the earnings of the 19 automakers featured in the infographic.
The Volkswagen Group claims the top spot with $290.2B in gross revenue, translating to $9,202.88 per second. Capping off the list is the worldโs most valuable automaker, Tesla, which generated a relatively smaller $24.6B in gross revenue, or $780.06 per second.
Automaker | 2019 Gross Revenue ($) | 2019 Gross Revenue per Second ($) |
---|---|---|
Volkswagen | $290.2B | $9,202.88 |
Toyota | $272.3B | $8,634.58 |
Ford | $156.0B | $4,946.73 |
Honda | $143.1B | $4,537.67 |
General Motors | $137.2B | $4,351.76 |
Fiat Chrysler | $121.6B | $3,856.10 |
BMW | $116.9B | $3,708.89 |
Mercedes-Benz (Daimler) | $104.6B | $3,316.84 |
Nissan | $92.0B | $2,918.81 |
Hyundai | $90.8B | $2,879.25 |
PSA Group | $84.0B | $2,664.17 |
Renault | $62.4B | $1,979.84 |
Kia | $50.0B | $1,585.49 |
Geely | $45.9B | $1,457.70 |
Tata Motors | $43.7B | $1,385.72 |
Suzuki | $34.8B | $1,104.86 |
Mazda | $32.1B | $1,017.88 |
Subaru | $28.5B | $904.05 |
Tesla | $24.6B | $780.06 |
A clear takeaway from this data is that Volkswagen and Toyota have a sizable lead over the rest of their peers. Letโs take a closer look at how these two companies operate.
The Volkswagen Group
The Volkswagen Group holds a comprehensive portfolio of brands and services, and has been the worldโs largest automaker, by sales, for the past three years.
Beginning with passenger cars and motorcycles, its numerous brands reported the following results for 2019.
Brand | Vehicle Sales | Sales Revenue* ($) | Average Revenue per Vehicle ($) |
---|---|---|---|
Volkswagenย | 3,677,000 | $99.1B | $26,960 |
Audi (includes Lamborghini and Ducatti)ย | 1,200,000 | $62.4B | $52,028 |
ล KODA | 1,062,000 | $22.2B | $20,912 |
SEAT | 667,000 | $12.9B | $19,326 |
Porscheย | 277,000 | $29.2B | $105,491 |
Bentley | 12,000 | $2.3B | $195,480 |
*Based on an exchange rate of 1.12 EUR/USD (Dec. 31, 2019)
Source: Volkswagen
Other sources of revenue were Volkswagenโs $44.5B commercial vehicle business, its $4.7B power engineering business, and lastly its $44.4B financial services division.
In total, the Volkswagen Group delivered just short of 11 million vehicles in 2019, besting its 2018 deliveries by 1.3% and setting a new record for the group. While a majority of these vehicles were produced in Europe, the group operates a global production network with a significant presence in Asia.
Region | Number of locations | Share of total production |
---|---|---|
Europe | 36ย | 49% |
Asiaย | 19ย | 38% |
South America | 6 | 5% |
North America | 4 | 7% |
Africa | 4 | 1% |
Source: Volkswagen
The German automaker has invested billions in China, the world’s largest car market, to scale its electric vehicle (EV) production capabilities.
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation operates a much more concentrated brand portfolio, with Toyota and Lexus being its two most prominent names. This strategy seems to be working well, as Toyota was ranked the ninth most valuable brand in 2019, and was the only automaker to crack the top ten.
A testament to Toyotaโs global influence is its relatively balanced breakdown of 2019 revenues by regional market:
- North America: 30%
- Japan: 25%
- Asia: 18%
- Europe: 11.5%
- Other: 15.3%
For comparison, here is Volkswagenโs 2019 revenues by region, which leans heavily towards Europe:
- Europe (excl. Germany): 42%
- Germany: 19%
- North America: 17%
- South America: 4%
- Asia-Pacific: 17%
The Japanese automakerโs popularity in foreign regions is likely the result of its reputation for reliability and affordability. It may also explain why Toyotaโs trucks are a common sight in tough environments such as conflict zones of the developing world.
Altogether, Toyota and its subsidiaries sold nearly 9 million vehicles in 2019, setting a new record for the company but just 0.1% higher than its 2018 figure. Similar to Volkswagen, a majority of Toyotaโs vehicles are produced in its home region, with the remainder being built around the world.
Region | Share of total production |
---|---|
Japan | 50% |
North America | 20% |
Asia | 17% |
Europeย | 8% |
Otherย | 5% |
Source: Toyota
Outside of Japan, Toyota has significant production capabilities in the U.S., where it makes everything from pickup trucks to sedans. In 2016, the Toyota Camry made headlines after being ranked the most American-made carโover 75% of its parts were sourced domestically.
Alternative Revenue Sources
While automobiles represent the core business for these companies, many of them have alternative revenue sources. Honda, for example, produces motorcycles, boat engines, lawn mowers, and even personal jets.
Porsche takes a slightly different approach with its accessories and licensing subsidiary, Porsche Design. Since 2003, a variety of lifestyle goods including eyewear, smartphones, and watches have been sold under the Porsche name. Its most noteworthy project is the Porsche Design Tower Miami, a residential skyscraper which features a robotic car elevator.
Finally, electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla earns additional revenues by selling carbon credits to other automakers that fail to meet government-imposed quotas on EV sales. Since Tesla only produces EVs, it has no need for its credits and is free to sell them. In the second quarter of 2020, Tesla earned $428 million from selling carbon credits, representing 7% of its total revenues for the period.
The Road Ahead
Additional revenue streams are continuing to open up as automakers integrate new technologies into their cars.
Cadillac and Tesla, two American brands, have both announced that their self-driving capabilities will eventually become a paid subscription service. Meanwhile, Germanyโs premium automakers are expanding into wireless services. BMW claims it will become the first automaker to offer 5G connectivity in its cars, while Mercedes now sells downloadable software packages to enhance a driverโs experience.
While itโs too early to say whether or not these services will have a significant impact on an automakerโs bottom line, forecasts claim this so-called โconnected car marketโ will be worth $166 billion by 2025. To put that into perspective, thatโs more than half of Volkswagenโs gross revenue in 2019, or $5,264 per second.
Batteries
Global EV Production: BYD Surpasses Tesla
This graphic explores the latest EV production data for 2022, which shows BYD taking a massive step forward to surpass Tesla.

Global EV Production: BYD Surpasses Tesla
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
2022 was another historic year for EVs, with annual production surpassing 10 million cars for the first time ever. This represents a sizeable bump up from 2021โs figure of 6.7 million.
In this infographic, weโve used data from EV Volumes to visualize the top 15 brands by output. The color of each brandโs bubble represents their growth from 2021, with the darker shades depicting a larger percentage increase.
Data Overview and Key Takeaways
The raw data we used to create this infographic is listed below. Volume figures for 2021 were included for convenience.
Rank | Company | 2022 | 2021 | Growth from 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ๐จ๐ณ BYD | 1,858,364 | 598,019 | 211% |
2 | ๐บ๐ธ Tesla | 1,314,319 | 936,247 | 40% |
3 | ๐ฉ๐ช VW Group | 839,207 | 763,851 | 10% |
4 | ๐บ๐ธ GM (incl. Wuling Motors) | 584,602 | 516,631 | 13% |
5 | ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐น ๐ซ๐ท Stellantis | 512,276 | 381,843 | 34% |
6 | ๐ฐ๐ท Hyundai Motors (incl. Kia) | 497,816 | 348,660 | 43% |
7 | ๐ฉ๐ช BMW Group | 433,164 | 329,182 | 32% |
8 | ๐จ๐ณ Geely Auto Group | 351,356 | 99,980 | 251% |
9 | ๐ฉ๐ช Mercedes-Benz Group | 337,364 | 281,929 | 20% |
10 | ๐ซ๐ท ๐ฏ๐ต Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance | 335,964 | 289,473 | 16% |
11 | ๐จ๐ณ GAC Group | 287,977 | 125,384 | 130% |
12 | ๐จ๐ณ SAIC Motor Corp. | 256,341 | 237,043 | 8% |
13 | ๐ธ๐ช Volvo Cars | 253,266 | 220,576 | 15% |
14 | ๐จ๐ณ Chery Auto Co. | 253,141 | 107,482 | 136% |
15 | ๐จ๐ณ Changan Auto Co. | 245,555 | 105,072 | 134% |
16 | ๐ Other (41 companies) | 1,927,211 | 1,326,262 | 45% |
Includes BEVs and PHEVs
BYD Auto
BYD Auto has leaped past Tesla to become the new EV king, boosting its output by a massive 211% in 2022. Given this trajectory, the company will likely become the worldโs first automaker to produce over 2 million EVs in a single year.
BYD has a limited presence in non-domestic markets, but this could change rather quickly. The company is planning a major push into Europe, where it expects to build factories in order to avoid EU tariffs on Chinese car imports.
The company is also building a factory in Thailand, to produce right-hand drive models for markets like Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Tesla
Tesla increased its output by a respectable 40% in 2022, staying ahead of Western brands like Volkswagen (+10%) and GM (+13%), but falling behind its Chinese rivals such as Geely (+251%).
Whether these Chinese brands can maintain their triple digit growth figures is uncertain, but one thing is clear: Tesla is facing more competition than ever before.
The company is targeting annual production of 20 million cars by 2030, meaning it will need to keep yearly growth rates in the high double digits for the rest of the decade. To support this initiative, Tesla is planning a multi-billion dollar factory in Mexico capable of producing 1 million cars a year.
Hyundai
Hyundai Motor Company, which also owns Kia, posted a similar growth rate to Tesla. The South Korean automaker was a relatively early player in the EV space, revealing the first Hyundai Ioniq in 2016.
In late 2022, several countries including South Korea expressed their disapproval of the Biden administrationโs Inflation Reduction Act, which withdrew tax credits on EVs not produced within the United States.
Hyundai is currently building a $5.5 billion EV factory in the state of Georgia, but this facility will not become operational until 2025. In the meantime, South Korea has revised its own EV subsidy program to favor domestic brands.
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