Auto Exports: Cars Cross Oceans

“Cars can't cross oceans.”

If you think that the above statement is true, think again. Go out into the streets and see the brands of the cars and other vehicles roaming your city. A significant fraction of them are not made in your country but were imported from another. International trade and globalization does not just allow us to have access to foreign-made agricultural products and manufactured goods. They have also paved way and created bridges for cars and other automobiles to cross national boundaries. Hyundai is Korean. Honda is Japanese. Volkswagen is German. Ford is American.

The automotive industry is one of the largest industries in the world. From the design stage to manufacturing to marketing to sales, the automotive industry has become an economic giant taking over the world. In 2006 alone, almost 70 million motor vehicles were produced all over the world. More than 16 million of these were sold in the United States, around 15 million in Western Europe, around 7 million in China and one million in India. The automotive industry continues to grow more as both manufacturers and markets in many countries grow rapidly.

Japan is the largest automobile exporter in the world. It also has six of the world's ten biggest automobile manufacturers including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Yamaha, Subaru, Mazda and many others. It is also home to several manufacturers of powersports vehicles such as Yamaha and Kawasaki. In 2005 alone, Japan manufactured almost 11 million motor vehicles, a huge bulk of which were sold overseas. In fact, automobiles are one of the top export products of the country.

In the world's biggest automobile exporters and manufacturers list, the United States is on the close second spot. The US produced more than 11 million vehicle units in 2005. It is also home to two of the biggest automobile companies in the world --- Ford which produces Lincoln and Mercury, and General Motors, makers of Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. China ranks third, followed by Germany and South Korea.