Automaker

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Automakers, also known as carmakers, automobile manufacturers, motor manufacturers, or the automobile industry are companies that design and manufacture automobiles. The major global players are headquartered in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. While major automakers are based in a small number of countries, their manufacturing facilities exist in a larger number of countries.

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Automobile manufacturing facilities are often found outside of the home country of the company, where they can take advantage of lower labor costs. Governemnts of these other countries may encourage or mandate a certain portion of local production and the use of locally-produced parts before an automaker is allowed to sell in their country. Still others have prohibitive import tariffs that lead automakers to produce locally. For instance, the U.S. has a relatively low tariff of 2.5% for imported automobiles, yet its tariff for imported pickup trucks is 25% ^[1], thus hurting the competitiveness of imported pickups. As a result, manufacturers assemble pickups intended for North American markets within the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, as these countries are parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement.