QUESTION: Who are the best in the world at building mass-produced cars? Answer: the Japanese and the Germans! Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that every company from Japan and Germany is a winner. Far from it. Suzuki and Mercedes-owned Smart, for example, have each suffered disturbing loss of form lately, and both can now consider themselves stuck in the bottom 10 of the major firms who sell cars in Britain.
But still, it has to be acknowledged that these two bad apples are the exception to the rule. In the global top 10, six are Japanese (Lexus, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and Daihatsu), and in the top 15, five are German (Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen). The humble Swedes can consider themselves the next best on the planet, thanks to the efforts of often overlooked Volvo and, to a lesser extent, Saab. In fourth place, it's the South Koreans (courtesy of Kia and Hyundai), followed by the Czech Republic (Skoda, of course), then Britain (thanks to Jaguar). All the above feature in the top half of car-producing companies/countries and should be proud of that fact.
Read Article