Global manufacturing means you may never pick where your new car comes from. NEIL DOWLING reports

THE downturned face of the new Captiva owner says it all – how would he have guessed that his new Holden was made in Korea.
He isn’t alone. Thousands of happy new-car owners in Australia may be shocked to learn their shiny driveway adornment isn’t what they thought.
But do they really care?
Allpike Peugeot in Perth says the days of the parochial Peugeot buyer are pretty much over, replaced with buyers who are looking across a broad range of car makes.
Peugeot markets two SUVs made by Mitsubishi in Japan and badged the 4007 and 4008. Allpike’s manager Martin Murphy says the vast majority of buyers have already done their research.
“They know it’s a joint-venture product,” he tells Carsguide.
“In the case of the 4008, it’s not about the country of origin – it’s about the product. Buyers know it’s based on a Mitsubishi ASX and go for the Peugeot’s style and the price.
“The 4007 is a different concept because it has a Peugeot diesel engine. That is more likely to attract a buyer wanting everything that is a Peugeot, and diesel engines are one of the company’s hallmarks.”
 
Welcome to the new age. Cars are no longer reflections of the culture and history of a nation and sentimentalists and patriots are no longer part of the motoring clientele.
German-based car companies make the products in Spain, Mexico and Slovakia; American carmakers source from Austria, China and Korea; the French from Japan, Korea and Poland; and the Japanese from Thailand, Indonesia and India.
Only 7136 cars were made in Australia in the seven months to July this year. By contrast, 64,825 were imported.
Where they come from is a United Nations teatowel of colourful diversity.
From Argentina to Hungary, Mexico to Turkey, Taiwan to Brazil – and even a country called “Other” – there are 27 national sources of our cars.
It could be sacrilege for some patriotic car owners but even a sign of our culturally-diverse community for others. But the real answer is profits.
Nissan Australia’s CEO Bill Peffer, said his company’s strong finish to 2011 was due, in part, to being able to get cars from around the world.
“Being able to source product from five different global locations gave us the coverage to avoid the worst of natural disasters which impacted production in Thailand and Japan in 2011,” he said.
This diversity also extends to car parts. About 60 per cent of the parts, by value,  that make a Holden Commodore come from Australia while 65 per cent of a Toyota Camry originated in Australia. The Ford Falcon and Territory are the most Australian with about 75 per cent of the value of parts.
The biggest incentive to set up a factory in another country is generous subsidies offered by the government of that country. It’s been going on for decades as a way of luring industry and boost employment.
This has been the case in countries including Thailand and Spain but even ignited by states – Victoria and South Australia are financial contributors to the respective car-making plants in their states and the practice is repeated in some of the southern states of the USA.
Under massive political and community outrage, Renault opened a $1.3 billion car plant in Morocco in January this year. Renault, 15 per cent owned by the French Government, simultaneously announced cut-backs in workers at its two French plants.
The move to build three low-cost models of subsidiary firm Dacia in Morocco was helped by the Moroccan Government agreeing to waive taxes for the first five years, including all duties on cars exported to foreign markets.
Lower production costs go hand-in-hand with building cars in foreign – some third-world – countries. Labour costs are lower, though most car assembly is done by machines.
“The cost of labour in emerging markets continues to be a fraction of that of developing world,” says accounting and financial group Deloitte in its 2012 report on the car industry “Accelerating Toward 2020”.
Labour in US car plants average about $30 an hour. In Japan, it’s $34 and Western Europe, $27. But Mexico, where Volkswagen makes the Beetle and Jetta, it’s $4; Eastern Europe is $12; in South Korea and Brazil it is $8; and India is $5. The surprise is that Chinese car workers get $22 an hour, much higher than public perception.
Though labour costs are low in many countries, Deloitte says the main reason for a predicted car manufacturing boom in emerging markets – China, South America, South-East Asia and India – is that it places production in the areas poised to have the highest demand.
“By 2020, there will be fewer cars sold as imports from outside a trade zone (that is, from Korea or Thailand to Australia),” Deloitte’s report says.
“Even those cars with foreign labels will be produced regionally.”
These low-cost, densely populated manufacturing bases that have a ready market for the cars it makes will come “at the expense of higher cost exporters such as Spain and Germany in the EU, and Canada and the US.”
“This strategy is already unfolding. Suzuki, for example, established plants in Hungary to supply the EU while Volkswagen and Nissan manufacture in Mexico to supply North America (and others).”
WHO, WHAT AND WHERE:
rrnfASTON MARTIN: Stand-alone company. Mainly owned by Middle East financiers.
AUDI: Owned by Volkswagen.
BMW: Owned by family company Quandt family and smaller shareholders. Owns Rolls-Royce and Mini and has alliances with PSA Peugeot for engines and Brilliance (China).
CHERY: Stand-alone (China)
CHRYSLER: Owned by Fiat. Is the parent company of Dodge and Jeep. Has shareholdings in engine makers Detroit Diesel and VM Motori.
CITROEN: Owned by the PSA group that also owns Peugeot and Michelin.
DODGE: Part of Chrysler.
FERRARI: Owned by Fiat. The Formula 1 and motorsport division is separate and privately held.
FIAT: Owns Chrysler (and with it Jeep and Dodge), Maserati, Ferrari, Alfa Rome and Lancia. Has a joint venture to make vans with PSA.
FORD: Public company. Brands are Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. Previously owned Aston Martin, Mazda, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover. Small-capacity diesels from PSA.
FPV: Owned jointly by Prodrive (which has interests in Aston Martin) and Ford.
GEELY: Owns Volvo.
GENERAL MOTORS: Brands are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel, Holden and Vauxhall. Owns 7 per cent of PSA.
GREAT WALL: Government-owned state enterprise of China.
HOLDEN: Owned by General Motors. Sources Australian-sold vehicles from Korea (Captiva, Cruze sedan, Barina, Spark) and Thailand (Colorado).
HSV: Owned by Holden.
HONDA: Stand alone company. Brands are Honda and Acura.
HYUNDAI: Stand-alone company. Owns Kia.
ISUZU: Owned by Mitsubishi. Has joint ventures with GM. Makes diesel engines for Opel.
JAGUAR: With sister company Land Rover is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata.
KIA: Owned by Hyundai.
LAMBORGHINI: Owned by Audi which is, in turn, owned by Volkswagen. Lamborghini also owns Ducati.
LAND ROVER: See Jaguar.
LEXUS: Owned by Toyota.
LOTUS: Owned by Proton.
MASERATI: Owned by Fiat.
MAYBACH: Closed. Was owned by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler.
MAZDA: Stand alone company. Previously majority owned by Ford.
MERCEDES-BENZ: Owned by Daimler AG. Owns carmakers Smart, Maybach, Mercedes and AMG, and truck-bus makers Daimler, Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Fuso, Thomas Built Buses, Orion, Setra, Western Star and Sterling Trucks. Has alliances with Renault to each build engines for cross models and a shareholding in Tesla and BYD (China).
MINI: Owned by BMW. Engines from PSA and Toyota.
MITSUBISHI: Part of the Mitsubishi Group. Has a major share in Isuzu. Has alliances with Peugeot (Outlander/4007; ASX/4008; iMiEV/ion) and Nissan (new Colt).
NISSAN: Brands are Nissan, Datsun and Infiniti. Owns 15 per cent of Renault.
OPEL: Owned by GM. Its diesel engines are made by Isuzu.
PORSCHE: Owned by Volkswagen.
PROTON: Is owned by the Malaysian Government’s investment arm (57%) and private Malaysian company DRB-Hicom Berhad. Also owns Lotus.
PSA: Parent of Peugeot, Citroen and Michelin. Owned 7 per cent by GM. Makes engines and hybrid components for BMW-Mini and Ford small-car diesels. Makes LCV vans with Fiat and soon also for Toyota Europe. Makes cars with Toyota (Aygo) and Mitsubishi.
RENAULT: Owns 44 per cent of Nissan and Infiniti. Owns Dacia (Romania), Samsung (Korea) and Lada (Russia). Is co-developing the 2014 Smart ForTwo.
ROLLS-ROYCE: Owned by BMW.
SAAB: Suspended. Previously owned by Dutch firm Spyker and General Motors. Sourced engines from GM and BMW.
SKODA: Owned by Volkswagen.
SMART: Owned by Mercedes parent, Daimler. The 2014 ForTwo will be jointly developed with Renault.
SSANGYONG: Owned by Mahindra (India) but vehicles built in Korea.
SUBARU: Majority owned by Toyota.
SUZUKI: Majority owned by Volkswagen. Owns 50 per cent of Maruti (India).
TOYOTA: Owns Daihatsu, Lexus and is major shareholder in Subaru, Hino and Yamaha. Has an agreement with BMW to jointly make electric cars. Has an interest in Tesla. Makes diesel engines for Mini. Jointly makes cars with PSA (Aygo)
VOLKSWAGEN: Owns Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, MAN and Scania. Has 19.9% of Suzuki. Indirectly owns Ducati.
VOLVO: Owned by Geely of China.
WHERE’S THAT FROM?
Audi A1: Belgium
BMW 3-Series: South Africa
Mercedes-Benz C-Class: Germany
Audi Q7: Slovakia
Volkswagen Polo GTI: Spain
Ford Fiesta: Thailand
Renault Latitude: Korea
Nissan Micra: Indonesia
Hyundai i20: India
Holden Captiva: Korea
Smart: France
Toyota Hilux: Thailand
Honda Accord: Thailand
Volkswagen Beetle: Mexico
Volkswagen Amarok: Argentina