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Visualized: How Much Revenue Automakers Generate Every Second

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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 metricโ€”revenue 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 worldโ€™s most valuable automaker, Tesla, which generated a relatively smaller $24.6B in gross revenue, or $780.06 per second.

Automaker2019 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. Letโ€™s 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 worldโ€™s largest automaker, by sales, for the past three years.

Beginning with passenger cars and motorcycles, its numerous brands reported the following results for 2019.

BrandVehicle SalesSales 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 KODA1,062,000$22.2B$20,912
SEAT667,000$12.9B$19,326
Porscheย 277,000$29.2B$105,491
Bentley12,000$2.3B$195,480

*Based on an exchange rate of 1.12 EUR/USD (Dec. 31, 2019)
Source: Volkswagen

Other sources of revenue were Volkswagenโ€™s $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.

RegionNumber of locationsShare of total production
Europe36ย 49%
Asiaย 19ย 38%
South America65%
North America47%
Africa41%

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 Toyotaโ€™s 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 Volkswagenโ€™s 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 automakerโ€™s popularity in foreign regions is likely the result of its reputation for reliability and affordability. It may also explain why Toyotaโ€™s 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 Toyotaโ€™s vehicles are produced in its home region, with the remainder being built around the world.

RegionShare of total production
Japan50%
North America20%
Asia17%
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 carโ€”over 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, Germanyโ€™s 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 driverโ€™s experience.

While itโ€™s too early to say whether or not these services will have a significant impact on an automakerโ€™s bottom line, forecasts claim this so-called โ€œconnected car marketโ€ will be worth $166 billion by 2025. To put that into perspective, thatโ€™s more than half of Volkswagenโ€™s gross revenue in 2019, or $5,264 per second.

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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.

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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 2021โ€™s figure of 6.7 million.

In this infographic, weโ€™ve used data from EV Volumes to visualize the top 15 brands by output. The color of each brandโ€™s 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.

RankCompany20222021Growth from 2021
1๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ BYD1,858,364598,019211%
2๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Tesla1,314,319936,24740%
3๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช VW Group839,207763,85110%
4๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ GM (incl. Wuling Motors)584,602516,63113%
5๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท Stellantis512,276381,84334%
6๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท Hyundai Motors (incl. Kia)497,816348,66043%
7๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช BMW Group433,164329,18232%
8๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Geely Auto Group351,35699,980251%
9๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Mercedes-Benz Group337,364281,92920%
10๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance335,964289,47316%
11๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ GAC Group287,977125,384130%
12๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ SAIC Motor Corp.256,341237,0438%
13๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Volvo Cars253,266220,57615%
14๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Chery Auto Co.253,141107,482136%
15๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Changan Auto Co.245,555105,072134%
16๐ŸŒŽ Other (41 companies)1,927,2111,326,26245%

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 worldโ€™s 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 administrationโ€™s 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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