It is often difficult to tell if a car is a domestically or foreign produced vehicle simply by the name of the manufacturer. For example, in 2006 Japan-based manufacturer Toyota had 14 manufacturing plants in North America producing parts and cars such as the Camry, while American manufacture [[General Motors]] has operations in [[Mexico]] producing trucks such as the Silverado and Suburban for export to the United States.
Major car companies include The "Big Three" American makers are Ford, General Motors(or GM), and [[Chrysler]], . Japanese companies include [[Toyota]], [[Nissan]], [[Honda]], [[Mazda]], [[Suzuki]], and [[Subaru]]. The German companies include [[BMW]], [[Mercedes-Benz]], and [[Volkswagen]]. Major American [[Fiat]] is based manufacturers include in Italy, and [[Ford Motor Company|FordPSA Peugeot Citroën]] and [[General MotorsRenault]], produce several brands such as in France. South Korea has [[Ford Mercury|MercuryHyudai]], and [[Lincoln (car)|LincolnKia]], . Sweden is famous for the [[ChevroletSaab]], and [[HummerVolvo]]. Chinese and Indian companies are growing rapidly. Many companies operate factories in several countries. The largest producers in 2007 in descending order, however these often have many of the same "platforms" or basic car componentseach with over 1 million cars, are::Toyota, GM; Volkswagen; Ford; Honda; PSA Peugeot Citroën; Nissan; Fiat; Renault; Hyundai; Suzuki; Chrysler; Daimler; BMW; Mitsubishi; Kia; and Mazda.
==Industry trends==
The annual capacity of the industry is 17 million cars; sales in 2008 dropped to an annual rate of only 10 million vehicles made in the U.S. and Canada. All the automakers and their vast supplier network account for 2.3% of the U.S. economic output, down from 3.1% in 2006 and as much as 5% in the 1990s. Some 20% of the entire national manufacturing sector is still tied to the automobile industry. The transplants can make a profit when sales are at least 12 million; the Big Three when sales are at least 15 million.<ref> Louis Uchitelle, "If Detroit Falls, Foreign Makers Could Be Buffer," [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/business/economy/17impact.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin ''New York Times,'' Nov. 16. 2008] </ref>