Top 10 car brands facts

Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955. In 1960, Honda was also the first among them to begin exporting to the U.S.

Grand Tourer Injection. A Grand Tourer Injection (from Italian Gran Turismo Iniezione) - abbreviated to GTI is a fuel-injection car model variant. Traditionally used for Grand Tourer cars, the term is now applied to various hot hatchbacks, even though they do not have the luxury traditionally associated with Grand Tourers. The 1961 Maserati 3500 GTI is the first car to use the GTI name that was later made famous in 1976 with the Volkswagen Golf GTI and also by the Peugeot 205 GTi launched in 1984.

Lamborghini. In 1950s, Lamborghini's tractor company, had become one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in Italy. Lamborghini's wealth allowed him to cultivate a childhood interest in cars, finally starting a car manufacturing business.

Volkswagen Group. Automobili Lamborghini was owned by Feruccio Lamborghini only for nine years (1963–1972). After going through bankruptcy and several changes in ownership, Lamborghini was sold to Audi AG in 1998.

Volkswagen was founded on 28 May 1937 as the "Society for the preparation of the German People's Car", by the Nazi German Labor Front. The purpose of the company was to manufacture "people's car" Volkswagen Beetle.

Auto Union was the predecessor of Audi. The car was extremely difficult to handle, but its tremendous power and acceleration were undeniable - a driver could induce wheelspin at over 100 mph (160 km/h). Silver arrows of Auto Union and Mercedes Benz dominated car racing until the outbreak of World War II.

Saab. In 1944 the war was near end and SAAB (Svenska Aeroplan Aktie Bolaget) realized that the demand for military aircraft will soon drop. A search for new markets resulted in starting a car business.

Nissan. In 2011, Nissan manufactured 4,6 million automobiles and was the sixth in the world, behind G.M., Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai and Ford.

Mitsubishi. Type 10 tank (pictured) is manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group. MHI is the world's 23rd-largest defense contractor measured by 2011 defense revenues, and the largest based in Japan.

Audi was created in 1969 as a result of NSU and The Auto Union company merge. The former NSU manufacturing plant in Neckarsulm is still used for Audi assembly, and the current Audi AG shares trade under the ticker symbol "NSU".