THE 21 BEST GERMAN CAR BRANDS IN HISTORY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The car brands / German cars are among the most popular, reliable and quality of the world. This is because Germany is one of the countries with the longest automotive tradition, as it gave the industry different historical impulses with innovative creations.

Karl Benz and Nikolaus Otto were the creators of the four-stroke internal combustion engine in 1870. This invention completely revolutionized the automobile, which gained in efficiency. All cars today work with this system, except for electric ones, which are a modern technology.

Mercedes Office

The German automotive industry is one of the most developed and important in the world, with more than 6 million cars produced per year. It is the fourth in the world and is one of the main activities in generating work within the country, with more than 700 thousand workers.

The history of this industrial branch in Germany dates back to the 19th century, when Karl Benz adopted the technologies of the floats existing at the time. But with the Great Depression of 1920, the crisis hit the sector.

Its resurgence occurred in part during Nazism, with the creation of the Volkswagen Beetle, known as the "people's car" for its robustness and low price. But it was after World War II that the German automotive industry ended up becoming a thriving sector of the economy of the country and the world.

In addition to having almost 90% of the global premium market, Germany has popular designs that invade the streets of the world and also its drivers are stars of motorsport. Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg, dominated Formula 1 for the last 20 years.

In this article I will go over the best German car brands. Some remain in force, others were taken over by larger companies, and a few disappeared.

List of the best German car / car brands

1- Audi

Audi e-tron

Audi was founded in 1909, although its history began much earlier. It was August Horch who gave life to this brand today recognized worldwide.

Horch was one of the first Germans to make cars in 1899 and launched his first model in 1901. Some time later, this businessman decided to bring his company to life.

He was born under the name of August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG but after a legal battle it lost its name and christened it Audi, which in Spanish translates as “listen”.

It is currently part of the Volkswagen Group, is dedicated to the luxury segment and is based in Ingolstadt.

2- Mercedes Benz

Source: EurovisionNim

It arose after the union of Daimler Motorengesellschaft and Benz & Cie. It owes its name to an old dealer of the first who sold the cars with the name of his daughter, Mercedes.

Its logo is the famous three-pointed star, designed by Gottlieb Daimler! It symbolizes the ability of its engines to use them on land, sea or air.

It is based in Stuttgart and is one of the world's leading sellers of luxury cars, as well as trucks and buses. In addition, he won the last two Formula 1 titles, both drivers and constructors.

2- BMW

BMW Z8

It began production in 1913 with Karl Rapp as the leader and took off thanks to new technology in aircraft engines. Industry that was very important during World War II.

Some years later, in 1916, it was Gustav Otto, son of Nikolaus, who became one of the founders of BMW. These acronyms stand for Bayerische Motoren Werke, "Bavarian Engine Factory".

Based in Munich, it is the leading manufacturer and seller of high-end cars today. Rover, Smart and Maybach are some of the brands that the company has bought in the last 20 years.

The Z8 model became world famous for its appearance in the James Bond movie: The World Is Not Enough.

4- Alpine

Source: Alexander Migl

It was born as a manufacturer of accessories for other companies and is currently dedicated to remodeling the models it buys from BMW with sporty and luxury style. It is based in Buchloe.

5- Porsche

Source: Wistar Rinearson, Landmark Extra

Today, it is one of the world's leading high-end sports car brands. Its beginnings were in the creation of the first Ferdinand Porsche electric cars in the 19th century.

It is based in Stuttgart and is part of the Volkswagen Group. The 911 model is one of the most recognized in automotive history.

6- Opel

Source: Vascori2

It was born as a company that was dedicated to manufacturing bicycles and sewing machines until it began to import cars from other companies.

Its founder Adam Opel hated automobiles, but when he died, his children saw in this industry a business opportunity. It is based in Rüsselsheim and is currently a subsidiary of the North American General Motors.

7- Volkswagen

Volkswagen scirocco

It is the most important brand of the group of the same name, which is the largest automobile manufacturer in Germany and the second in the world. It is based in Wolfsburg.

Its beginnings go back to Adolf Hitler's project to build an efficient and economical car in 1937. The winner of the contest was Ferdinand Porsche with the Beetle that Volkswagen built.

8- Borgward

Source: nemor2

It was a car brand that disappeared in 1961 when the company went bankrupt. It was founded by Carl Borgward and its most recognized model was the 1954 Isabella.

9- Artega

Artega

It was a brand of exclusive luxury sports cars. It produced only one model between 2006 and 2012, when it went bankrupt.

The only vehicle designed by this company was the Artega GT, whose production was stopped when only 130 of the 500 planned units had been completed.

10- Gumpert

Source: GUMPERT Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH

It is a case similar to that of Artega, it had only one model in its history, the Apollo, with which it tried to revolutionize the luxury sports car segment. It only lasted from 2007 to 2012, with two versions of its design.

After the bankruptcy, the company was acquired by Asian capitals and since 2016 it began to project new models for the future, but they have not yet been launched on the market.

11- Isdera

Isdera Spyder

For 48 years, Isdera, based in Leonberg, has been manufacturing sports cars to order. One of its models is eligible in the Need for Speed ​​II video game.

12- Lotec

Source: Buttonfreak at de.wikipedia

It is one of the most exclusive sports car brands in Germany. Produces since 1962, models with parts from other high-end manufacturers. In 1990 she was hired by a millionaire Arab sheikh to build a special car for her.

13- Keinath

Keinath GT

This company has been in the business of replicating models for 35 years, and in 2003 began manufacturing its own convertible sports car designs.

14- Smart

Source: Fotografiert: selbst Lizenz: GNU Freie Dokumentationslizenz

This brand was born from the union between the companies Swatch and Mercedes-VEC, which joined forces to manufacture small and light cars, ideal for urban use. Since 1998, they began to revolutionize the market with these types of models.

Based in Böblingen, it is currently owned by Daimler, and is one of the leaders in the microcar segment.

15- Maybach

Maybach exelero

Maybach is part of the Daimler AG group, which started making cars in the early 1900s but stayed out of the market between 1940 and 2002.

Founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909, this company began by producing zeppelin engines. Some years later he dedicated himself to luxury cars until, with World War II, he turned to military engines.

After being acquired by Daimler in 1969, it powered different brands until it returned to the market in the last decade. It is based in Stuttgart.

The Maybach Exelero is a unique model with a market value of eight million dollars.

Some say that the exclusive Exelero model was bought by rapper Jay Z, while other sources credit it to music producer Bryan "Birdman" Williams.

16- Ruf Automobile

Source: Damian Morys from New York City, United States

Ruf's is an outlier. Since 1939 it has been producing models on Porsche chassis but with its own technology and components. It has a great presence in speed car video games, due to its specialty in sports designs.

Its history has a particular origin, since it began in a garage, where it offered mechanic services, and began to expand when it acquired a fuel station, with which it expanded its offer.

From then on, in 1940, he started with the designs. The first to make it popular was a tour bus. This sector is still active within the company but it is a separate branch.

Then came the cars, with a huge boost in 1970 when they began to modify Porsche models with powerful features exclusive to demanding customers.

In the last decade, Ruf launched the first version of the Porsche 911 but with a V8 engine.

17- Wiesmann

Wiesmann MF4-S

Another brand that no longer exists. It was born to the brothers Martin and Friedhelm Wiesmann in 1985 in Dülmen. It was noted for its production of convertible and sports cars.

He disappeared in 2014 due to severe financial problems. However, since then several automakers have been interested in the company name to continue their exclusive designs.

18- HQM Sachsenring GmbH

Source: nemor2

It is another case of one of the companies that was born driven by the boom of the German automotive industry during the 20th century. In the beginning, it made components for other brands until it launched its own family models.

It was founded in 1947 and disappeared in 2013 after some name changes. Its headquarters were in Zwickau.

19- Loyd

Norddeutsche Automobil und Motoren GmbH, better known as Loyd, is a German automaker that produced different models of street cars between 1908 and 1963.

Based in Bremen, this company sold its different designs under the name Hansa - Loyd. Its models included cars for family use, vans, coupes and convertibles.

20- Melkus

Source: Thomas doerfer

Founded by driver Heinz Melkus in 1959. Although Melkus specialized in making racing single-seaters, it had its moment of glory when it built its only street model: the Melkus RS 1000, of which there are only 101 examples.

It retired from manufacturing in 1986 and was involved in components until it filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

21- Karmann

Karmann Ghia

It is one of the brands that respects the style of old classic cars the most and since 1901 has been producing high-end cars and convertibles at its Osnabrück factory.

His versions are inspired by the models of other companies, but he also has his own designs. In 2009 it went bankrupt and was acquired by the Volkswagen Group.