Who really made your car?

Like a deceptive partner, what you see may not be the truth and it's likely that your new car has a shady past of dalliances, affairs, one-night stands, engagements, marriages and divorces.

But do you really want to know what's buried beneath that automotive sheen of gloss paint? If you couldn't stomach the truth - which will hurt - then don't read on.

If you are intrigued by what's beyond the badge on the bonnet and want the truth, keep with me.

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If you remember early Australian television soaps, the US-made Peyton Place was a spaghetti bowl of human emotions served up on a black and white screen. It predated Days of Our Lives and Neighbours and Home and Away but still managed in the 1960s to fog up grannies spectacles with the steamy side of relationships.

If you want the same hot flushes without the naked flesh, try a company called DaimlerChrysler. The murky past of this amalgam holds intrigue for scholars of corporate economics as much as for trainspotters of cars.

It was a good idea at the time. It was, as you'd guess, the gluing of Chrysler in the US with Daimler-Benz in Germany and designed so each would benefit by cross marketing and component sharing and using the economies of a single administration structure.

They were married in 1996 but clearly had domestic issues because by 2007 it ended in tears and a settlement that cost the now-solo Daimler "I'll never marry again" Benz a whopping $33 billion. Of the divorce, shareholders of Daimler and Chrysler spitefully said "I knew it wouldn't work".

It can be expensive sharing the love.

Marriages may be difficult, but alliances are what keep many car companies afloat. All these inter-relationships are spurred by one goal - profit. So competitive is the car industry that every dollar counts. Making cars cheaper improves profits, even if that means relocating factories to countries with low labour costs, non-existent unions and tax-free government incentives.

Few would know that Australians in 2010 bought 165,000 vehicles that were made in Thailand - the second biggest market supplying Australia after Japan. The Slovak Republic made 1500 vehicles (Porsche and Audi) for us while 2184 came from Mexico (Volkswagen), 311 from Indonesia (Suzuki) and 8227 from Spain (Volkswagen and Nissan). Some vehicles are rebadged or share major components. The platform of the Mazda3, for example, is similar to the Volvo S40 and Ford Focus.
 
Let's go a bit deeper ...

• ASTON MARTIN: Headed by David Richards - who also is the key figure in FPV majority shareholder Prodrive - with big money from Kuwait and English businessman John Sinders. Aston is a stand-alone company. It recently contracted with Toyota to buy - and modify - its iQ city car to be known as the Aston Martin Cygnet.
• AUDI: Owned by Volkswagen since 1966.
• BMW: Owned 46.7 per cent by the Quandt family. Owns Rolls-Royce, Mini and motorcycle maker BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna. BMW has alliances with PSA Peugeot for engines for the Mini.
• CHRYSLER: Owned by Fiat. Is the parent company of Dodge, Jeep, Ram and electric carmaker Gem. The Chrysler 300C will be built in Canada and sold in Europe as the Lancia Thema. Has shareholdings in engine maker VM Motori which sells licences to GM's Daewoo for diesel engines used in the Holden Cruze and Captiva.
• CITROEN: Owned by the PSA Peugeot Citroen group since 1976. This group also owns Michelin.
• DODGE: Part of Chrysler.
• FERRARI: Owned by Fiat. The Formula 1 and motorsport division is a separate. Has a technical partnership with Ducati and Shell.
• FIAT: Owns Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Lancia, Maserati and the Chrysler Group. Has shareholdings in Iveco and CNH (Case New Holland) after demerging this commercial vehicle business.
• FORD: Public company. Previously owned brands Aston Martin, Mazda, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover.
• FPV: Majority (51 per cent) owned by Prodrive and Ford Australia.
• GREAT WALL: Government-owned state enterprise of China.
• HOLDEN: Owned by General Motors. Sources Australian-sold vehicles from Korea (Captiva, Cruze sedan, Barina, Spark) and Thailand (Colorado).
• HSV: Joint venture of  Holden and Tom Walkinshaw Racing.
• HONDA: Stand alone company.
• HYUNDAI: Stand-alone company. Owns Kia.
• JAGUAR: With sister company Land Rover is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata.
• KIA: Owned by Hyundai.
• LAND ROVER: See Jaguar.
• LEXUS: Owned by Toyota.
• LOTUS: Owned by Proton of Malaysia.
• MASERATI: Owned by Fiat.
• MAYBACH: Owned by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler.
• MAZDA: Stand alone company. Previously majority owned by Ford. Ford now has 3 per cent and joint ventures on some products - Ranger/BT-50. Mazda has a joint venture with Toyota for hybrid technology. It makes the Premacy (Mazda5) wagon for Nissan.
• MERCEDES-BENZ: Public company. Owns carmakers Smart, Maybach, Mercedes and AMG, and truck-bus makers Daimler, Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Fuso, Thomas Built Buses, Orion, Setra, Western Star and Sterling Trucks. Has alliances with Renault to each build engines for cross models. Also has an agreement with Chinese carmaker BYD to collaborate on an electric car for China.
• MINI: Owned by BMW. Previously used Toyota diesel engines and now uses PSA Peugeot units.
• MITSUBISHI: Stand alone company. Owns Fuso trucks. Has alliances with PSA Peugeot Citroen for production of the Outlander/4007 and share a factory in Russia. Also has an alliance with Nissan to make the next Colt/Nissan small car from 2012. Also has a technology agreement with Proton and Great Wall for drivetrains.
• NISSAN: Partner of Renault. Is 3.9 per cent owned by Daimler. Will receive V6 and V8 engines from Mercedes for Nissan and Infiniti models. Has alliances with Mitsubishi which will built the Navara at its Thai plant. Takes Mazdas Premacy van as a rebadged model. Part owns one of China's biggest carmakers, Dongfeng. Produces cars in India with Mahindra.
• PORSCHE: Owned by Volkswagen. Porsche's Cayenne SUV is built in Volkswagen's factory in the Slovak Republic alongside the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7. Porsche's Cayman is built in Finland.
• PROTON: Majority owned by Malaysian government. Owns Lotus. Uses drivetrain licences from Mitsubishi.
• RENAULT: Partner of Nissan. Is 3.9 per cent owned by Daimler and 15 per cent by French government. Owns Dacia (Romania) and Samsung Motors (Korea). Renault Trucks is owned by Volvo Trucks. Will this year supply Mercedes with 1.6-litre engines (A and B-Class) and receives 2-litre plus engines in return. Has an alliance with Smart (owned by Daimler) for a new car based on the Renault Twingo. Joint ventures with GM to make the Trafic/Vivaro van.
• ROLLS-ROYCE: Owned by BMW.
• SAAB: Stand-alone company. Previously owned by Dutch firm Spyker and General Motors. Sources engines from GM and  BMW.
• SKODA: Owned by Volkswagen.
• SMART: Owned by Mercedes parent, Daimler.
• SSANGYONG: Owned by China-based SAIC but vehicles built in Korea.
• SUBARU: Majority owned by Toyota.
• SUZUKI: Majority owned by Volkswagen. Its next engines will be sourced from Volkswagen.
• TOYOTA: Owns Daihatsu, Lexus, Scion and is major shareholder in Subaru and Hino. Owns airconditioning supplier Denso and gearbox maker Aisin. Collaborates with Tesla in electric drivetrains. Has a major share in Yamaha and shares engineering expertise. Yamaha created the V8 engine for Volvo.
• VOLKSWAGEN: Owns Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and is fianlising takeover of Porsche. Has the majority shareholding in Suzuki. Is attempting to buy Alfa Romeo from Fiat.
• VOLVO: Owned by Geely of China. Retains some alliances with former owner Ford.