The UV brands

We know of Toyota, Honda, Ford and many other car brands, but many brands have entered into niche segments and created a market for themselves by specializing in Off-roaders and mini trucks. The manna of such vehicles used to be Hummer until GM discontinued the Marquee.

1. Isuzu-   Isuzu became the world's largest manufacturer of medium to heavy duty trucks in 2005. By 2009, Isuzu had produced over 21 million diesel engines, which can be found in vehicles all over the world. Isuzu diesel engines are used by Renault, Opel, General Motors and various other car brands. Isuzu makes the D-AX and Panther UV's (Chevrolet Tavera in India.)

2. GMC- GMC is often mispelled as General Motors Corporation brand. GMC trucks is infact a part of the General Motors. GMC offers the same trucks available under the Chevrolet brand. A Sprint, for example, was a rebadged Chevrolet El Camino, the Sierra is a rebadged Chevrolet Silverado, etc. Alongside sister brand Cadillac, all three share the Suburban/Tahoe SUV platform due to Cadillac's upscale Escalade and Escalade ESV brands, with GMC's Yukon Denali being closer to the Escalades. Some of the GMC vehicles include Sierra, Canyon, Acadia, Terrain and Yukon.

3. RAM-  RAM is the newest independant brand under Chrysler after Sergio Marchionne split Dodge into two. The Dodge brand will continue as is minus the trucks which will now be sold under the RAM brand. According to Chrysler, the new brand will concentrate on "real truck customers," rather than casual truck buyers who buy trucks for image or style. The Ram brand logo features the head of a ram, or uncastrated male sheep.

4. JEEP- Jeep is another famous and iconic brand of Utility vehicles from Chrysler LLC.  It is the oldest Off-road brand in the world as per some sources. JEEP is also one of the most profitable brands for Chrysler LLC. Jeep sells vehicles including Grand Cherokee, Liberty, Compass, Patriot and Wrangler.

5. Land Rover- Perhaps the most successfuly off-roading brand in the world, Land Rover has changed ownership a couple of times in its history spanning Leyland group to Ford's Premier Automotive Group. The current owners are TATA motors. It is the second-oldest four-wheel drive car brand in the world (after Jeep). Beginning life as a one car brand under Land Rover the brand currently encompasses Discovery, Range Rover, Defender and Free Lander.

6.Mahindra- The company was set up in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra along with Malik Ghulam Muhammad. Initially set up to manufacture general-purpose utility vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was first known for assembly under licence of the iconic Willy Jeep in India. M&M introduced Jeeps to India and in no time they established themselves as the Jeep manufacturers of India. The company has lately decided to go mainstream after a joint venture with Renault and buyout of Maini, SsangYong (Korea) and an intended purchase of ICML. The manufacturer vehicles such as the Mahindra Scorpio, Mahindra  Thar, Mahindra  Bolero, Mahindra Xylo and Mahindra Major.

7. Force Motors-  Force Motors was founded by N.K.Firodia in 1958 as Firodia Tempo Ltd. After several name changes it is today known in its present state as Force Motors. The company came into limelight with its Matador Van. The company currently makes the Trax and Gurkha UV's with an SUV in the pipeline.

Car brands ownership around the world.

It is not uncommon these days to find a similar part in different cars. The reason being multiple brands under the same umbrella.  Here is a list of companies owning multiple brands.

1. Toyota- Toyota owns Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands under the Toyota Motor Corporation. It also has stakes in Daihatsu, Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) and Isuzu.

2. General Motors- General Motors owns Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling and Daewoo.

3. Volkswagen- Volkswagen owns Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Skoda, SEAT, Buggati and Porsche. VW also has a major stake in Suzuki.

4. Ford- Ford Motor Company owns Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands. Ford also has a small stake in Mazda and Aston Martin.

5. Hyundai- Hyundai Kia motor corporation ows Hyundai and Kia brands.

6. Peugeot Citroen- Peugeot Citroen owns Peugeot, Citroen an Peugeot two wheelers.

7. Honda- Honda owns Honda, Acura, Honda two wheelers.

8. Nissan-Renault- Nissan Renault own Nissan, Infiniti, Renault, Samsung motors and Dacia. They also have a major stake in AVTOVaZ  Russia.

9. Fiat- Fiat owns Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, and Lancia brands. Fiat also owns Chrysler Corporation With a controlling stake with majority in the hands of Governments of Canada and U.S. which also includes Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.

10. Diamler AG-  Daimler AG ownes Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart car brands. Daimler AG also has a stake in Tesla motors.

11. BMW- BMW owns BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. BMW also owns BMW and Husqvarna motorcycle brands.

12. Geely Automobiles- Geely owns Geely and Volvo car brands.

13. Tata Motors-  Tata motors owns Tata, Jaguar and Land Rover car brands. Tata also has a stake in Fiat motors.

14. Mahindra and Mahindra- Mahindra owns Mahindra, Maini, Ssangyong and Mahindra 2 wheelers.

15. Proton- Proton owns Proton cars and Lotus cars.

American Motorcycles.

Usually the ring of the words United States brings to mind open roads, big cars and mammoth engines along with cheap gas imported from the South. But it doesn't take long for the ears to register a steely roar on a typically pleasant day. Roll your eyes in the direction of the sound and you will see bling bling that has defined "AMERICAN" for decades now. Carry over the weight of half the car and half the engine on two wheels and you get a pure 'American' bred motorcycle.Here is a list of USA bred Motorcycle manufacturers

The Dodge Tomahawk V10 motorcycle pictured above is the symbol of huge American motorcycles. The engine is a 8.3L (8300cc) V10 producing 500 horses. 9 units have been sold via Neiman Marcus catalog for $550,000.


Harley Davidson

The Milwaukee based company has been in the business since 1903 making it one of the oldest marquees in the Automobile industry. Mostly retro in design, Harley has also experimented with the VRSC series of technically advanced and stylishly designed iterations. Very few are also aware that  Harley Davidson was at one point (1920) the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world.

Harley has also tried unsuccessfully to bank on lighter vehicles through the acquisition of Aermachhi in 1978, creation of the Buell division and acquisition of MV Agusta. The Aermachhi Marquee was sold to Cagiva 4 years later. Mv Agusta surpringly is a part of Cagiva. Buell marquee was stopped in 2009, the same year in which MV Agusta was sold.

PS: Licensing of the Harley-Davidson logo accounts for almost 5% of the company's net revenue.

Indian

Most people known of Indian Motorcycles from the movie 'The World's Fastest Indian' which is based on a true story. The 47 year old motorcycle was driven by a 68 year old Burt Munro of New Zealand at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The company has no relation whatsoever with India or New Zealand. Thanks to Columbus our cousins up West are also known as Indians and hence the the name of the company.

Initially known as Hendee the company changed name to the Indian Motorcycle company in 1928. Known as America's first motorcycles, before Harley Davidson, Indian was the largest selling motorcycle in the world selling 32000 motorcycles in 1913. In 1933 Indian Motorcycles merged with Dupont motors. Looking at the bleak light against the big car makers, Charled Dupont concentrated all resources on the Indian Motorcycle Company bringing the company neck to neck against Harley Davidson. But in 1945 the company was sold to another investor. The new owners decided to go for lightweight motorcycles. Lack of development and sub par quality began to sink the company and production was finally stopped in 1953.

After a serious of different owners went bankrupt, British LLC firm Stellican limited invested in the brand and resumed production of Indian motorcycles. The new models have respectable quality, Retro designs and powerful engines prociding stiff competition to Harley Davidson but focusing more in exclusivity.

PS: After the original company ceased in 1953, a team of investors imported Royal Enfield Motorcycles to US and rebadged them as Indian. Also the latest Indian Chief Bomber motorcycles come with american lady toons resembling the fighter planes used during the world wars.

Victory Motorcycles

Victory Motorcycles has made a name for itself in a pretty short time. Polaris industries ambtion in the motorocycle market took shape in 1997. The company's first profits came in 2002 after the successful run of their v-twin models. The company doesn't enjoy a heritage but has made do with lots of style and attention to detail.

Fischer Motorcycles

Not well known even in the U.S.A, Fischer Motor Company is the only US-based sport motorcycle manufacturer currently in production. Their motorcycle is built around a 650cc unit derived from Hyosung Korea which has also been known to supply motorcycles to Kinetic Motors India (Mahindra 2 wheelers). The 650cc engine is the same that is found in Hyosung Comet.  Fischer has definitely found success and have increased their sales targets for 2010. The motorcycle has been perfected with the help of various agencies and companies in the sport and racing industry and precision technology.

PS: Fischer motorcycles maiden venture has just won the Indonesia Motorcycle of the year award.

ATK

Apart from crusiers and choppers, American maker ATK has jumped into Off-road bikes and made a name for itself. The 700cc intimidator is the most power 2-stroke engine in the world. Founded in 1980 by Horst Leitner, the company has been able to make a name for itself in the performance motorcycling arena.  in 2010 ATK signed a contract with S&T motors to import motorcycles to US and expand in other segments of the motorcycles.  This will end the era of 'Made in U.S.A' tags that ATK has so proudly used in its marketing campaigns. Many of their current models are based on Maico products.

While Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycles rule the rooster on the N.American market place, It is the small boutique chopper makers that carry the spirit and enthusiasm. To name a few.

1. Boss Hoss Motorcycles- Custom choppers built with the help of GM v8 engines.

2. Titan Motorcycles- First custom motorcycle company to enter mass production.

3. West Coast Choppers- The most televised Customer motorcycle assembler with various shows on air . Boast of a celebrity list including Shaquille O'Neal, Kid Rock, Keanu Reeves and Bill Goldberg.

4. Orange County Choppers: Another tv famous Custom chopper maker.

5. Big Dog motorcycles- One of the first customer bike makers boasting excellent ergonomics.

Various other motorcycles companies thrive in the North American market but their operations are mostly too negligible. Examples include Motoczysz and Roehr motorcycles.

Filmy hai- Cars and bikes that made it big in films

Here are five cars and bikes that have made movie stars look like objects in the movie. Don't we just love them!!!

1. Aston Martin (James Bond Series)- James Bond's car of choice in John Gardners Novels is a SAAB 900. But no other car has been featured in Bond movies as models from Ford Motor Company (Aston Martin belonged to Ford at one point in time.) But Bond usually drives an Aston Marting in most movies.

2. Mini Cooper (Italian Job)- Small cars are best used in old towns of Europe where the roads are narrow. The directors of both 'Italian Job' movies knew this and hence got Mini Coopers for their movies. I am yet to see the classic but the new one definitely stars MiniCooper in an interesting role.

3. Chevrolet Camaro (Transformers)- One, Megan Fox is anyday a bigger hit and more succesful part of the movie transformers and two, GM totally killed the marketing Asset by making the second part of Transformers into a GM showroom. But I would still say that Bumblebee takes the cake when it comes to portraying a car character in the film.  GM made more money through selling Bumble bee edition cars than begging for money from bankrupt American(including Canadian) taxpayers.

4. Ford Mustang(Bullit, Gone in Sixty Seconds)- No other car including the Model T has been as celebrated as the Ford Mustang. Beginning a success run with 'Bullit' all the way to 'Gone in Sixty seconds'.  Here's Elanor for you. Thank you Shelby for giving this world an improved masterpiece.

5. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo (Who Am I)-  Jackie Chan is a Fan of Mitsubishi Lancer. No doubt then if most Jackie Chan movies has a Mitsubishi around. Mitsubishi had a good run with the 2fast 2furious which looked more like a Mitsubihshi Commercial but the Tokyo Drift pick at hyundai was awesome. 'You are representing me now. What you think, Im gonna let you roll in a Hyundai?

Bikes are never behind.

1. Harley Davidson Fat boy (Terminator)- Arnold made you think you can actually buy one and crack bullets with your teeth.

2. Kawasaki GPZ900R (Top Gun)- If all girls were tall and hot and beautifil as Nicole Kidman, Men would drive a Kawasaki GPZ900R past them every single time with a Hans Zimmer playing in the background.

3. Triumph Speed Triple Mission Impossible2- Drive one and imagine blowing your highschool everytime you pass by.

4. MV Agusta F4 (I,Robot)-  Even Will Smith thought himself to be blessed for driving one. The ultimate manna of motorcycling. So sacred, hardly a few thousand can buy it every year.

5. Ducati 996 (Matrix)- Girls and bikes have always resulted in men with swollen eyeballs and scratchy balls. No doubt the lead heroine in Matrix made it a rage on a Ducati 996.