Volkswagen was the top-ranked automaker in the Fortune 100 but still managed to reach only 17th among all companies.
Automakers – led by Volkswagen AG – grabbed 10 of the top spots in this year’s vaunted Fortune 100 list. The strong showing underscores the industry’s revival in the wake of the 2009 global recession.
Unlike some “top” lists, Fortune relies on more than just overall sales revenues to determine the world’s leading companies. It also looks at assets, profits and market value.
And by that measure, VW landed in the lead among automotive manufacturers and 17th overall on the Fortune 100. The maker was second in terms of global unit sales in 2011, ahead of Toyota but just behind a resurgent General Motors. Fortune noted VW generated $221 billion in sales last year and $21.5 billion in profits.
Toyota actually generated greater profits, at $228.5 billion, but earnings were down, largely because of the impact of the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that cost it an estimated 700,000 units of lost sales. The maker plunged from first to fourth in terms of global sales in 2011. It landed 25th, meanwhile, on the Fortune 100 list – but that’s up from 55th the year before.
Though its unit volume is relatively marginal, Daimler’s high-value Mercedes-Benz products helped it land in the 37th spot, according to Fortune, which also cited such attributes as a $66.3 billion market capitalization and $188.7 billion in assets for the German maker.
Ford was the highest-ranked Detroit maker, in the number 44 spot, with $136.3 billion in sales, $20.2 billion in profits, a market value of $47.5 billion. And Honda rolled into 59th – though fifth among automakers – thanks to $107.5 billion in sales and a $70.8 billion market cap.
BMW was the 61st-ranked company, according to Forbes, two spots ahead of General Motors, which regained its ranking as world’s best-selling automaker in 2011.
Rounding out the automotive group were Nissan, ranked 85, Mitsubishi, at 95 and Hyundai at 96. Though Hyundai is clearly gaining ground as a global maker, Mitsubishi might come as a surprise considering its weak U.S. sales – and the fact that it nearly went bankrupt just a couple years ago, surviving only through a last-minute bailout in Japan. But the company produces a wide range of products, including electronics, that helped buoy its ranking.
Ironically, while automakers couldn’t manage to reach higher than 17th on the Forbes 100 list, the top spot was filled by a company whose business is to keep all those cars running: ExxonMobil, which had $433.5 billion in sales and a whopping $41.1 billion in profits. Exxon’s market cap was listed at $407.4 billion – though that was actually less than the $546 billion capitalization for Apple, ranked 22nd.
In all, five oil companies were ranked 12th or higher by Fortune.
Among automakers that have to settle for a spot in the still respectable Fortune 500 are Renault, at 187th well behind its Japanese alliance partner, Kia, at 253rd, and Fiat, at 314th.
In a significant sign of that country’s emergence on the global automotive scene, Chinese automaker SAIC was 232nd. The Shanghai-based company partners with both Volkswagen and General Motors.
India’s Tata Motors, meanwhile, was ranked 348th. The company produces such models as the Nano, the world’s least expensive automobile. But it also owns British-based Jaguar Land Rover.