Written by / Zhang Ou
Edit/Windsor
Design / Shi Yuchao
Source/AUTOCAR Author: AUTOCAR
Investing the accumulated profits of core products in more profitable areas, or making ends meet in a recessionary market, or even just a personal hobby of the boss – it is common for companies in all walks of life to develop side businesses or diversify their business explorations.
The well-known car brands we are familiar with have also carried out some unexpected but interesting side businesses.
1. Mass sausage
For decades, the German car company has been producing pork sausages and currywurst, a fast food popular in Germany. It distributes sausages to workers in factories, branded restaurants and classic car shows. At Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters, some grocery stores also sell sausages directly, as well as ketchup produced in Volkswagen's kitchens.
2. BMW sleigh
In 2012, BMW's North American division spent more than a year designing bobsleighs for U.S. Olympic teams. It has used its expertise in composites to develop a lightweight tandem sled made of carbon fiber. The designers drew on the car company's rich experience in aerodynamics and designed a new bobsleigh shape.
Equipped with this ultimate bobsleigh machine, the American bobsleigh team finished third at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi — the team's first podium finish since 1952.
3. Fiat publishes newspapers
Fiat acquired the Turin-based Italian newspaper La Stampa in 1926. Under Fiat's command, El Izénée grew from a regional newspaper to one of the largest daily newspapers in Italy.
In 2014, Fiat and the powerful Perren family merged The News and the Geniana newspaper ll Secolo XIX into a new company called Italiana Editrice. Fiat's successor, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, eventually sold its stake in The News in 2017.
4. Tonino Lamborghini's coffee and luxury brands
Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the famous supercar brand Lamborghini, sold his eponymous business in 1974 and retired to enjoy a life of hunting and winemaking. The automaker eventually joined the Volkswagen Group, and none of his descendants worked for the company. However, Ferruccio's son has continued to use the name and logo.
Tonino Lamborghini's brand makes and sells fashion products such as sunglasses, watches, ties and wallets, and the brand also produces coffee, chocolate, vodka and energy drinks.
5. Peugeot Toolbox
Long before Peugeot entered the automotive industry, it manufactured the first hand tools in 1810 and is also on sale today, including drill bits, drill bits, saws, grinders and sub-fixtures.
The Peugeot family sold the rights to the toolmaking business to a French company called MPO in 2012.
6. Peugeot's salt, pepper and coffee grinder
Peugeot sold its first coffee grinder in 1840 and expanded into the pepper grinder business in 1874. Its first pepper mill was originally made of porcelain and was named Model Z. The basic design is still in production today, made from the more common wood.
Peugeot's grinder business is operationally unrelated to Peugeot's automotive manufacturing division, and the two are not designed in the same studio or under the same roof. The Peugeot family, which owns a 7 percent stake in Stellantis, a group owned by Peugeot, also holds a 90 percent stake in the pepper mill manufacturing plant.
7. Peugeot bicycle
Peugeot's side business is not over yet. In 1882, Peugeot began manufacturing high-wheeled bicycles. By the end of the 1880s, its catalog included tricycles and ordinary bicycles with wheels of the same size. In 1926, Peugeot's automobile and bicycle manufacturing divisions were separated into separate entities.
The brand still exists today and is part of Cycleurope, Europe's leading cycling group.
8. Tata Hotel
India's leading car company, Tata Group, opened a five-star hotel in Mumbai in Mumbai in 1903 called the Taj Mahal, which has grown into one of the largest hotel groups in Asia.
In fact, Tata currently operates more than 100 companies in a dizzying number of market segments. Provide computer system support, make coffee and tateli tea, offer life insurance, and transport passengers on an airline called Vistara.
9. Ford Rubber Town
Yes, you read that right, the arrogant Henry Ford built an industrial town directly in Brazil to produce the rubber needed for cars.
The project, called Fordl ndia, began in 1926 in aveiro, in the Brazilian state of Pará. American-style houses were born in the Amazon rainforest. The town is divided into different areas for Brazilian workers and American managers, and there is even a hotel that receives visiting guests.
However, the project ultimately failed. Ford left the town in 1934 and the town was abandoned. Initially off the beaten track, only 90 inhabitants lived there until 2000. As of 2017, there are about 3,000 residents.
10. Ford manufactures Sidewinder missiles
In 1951, Ford Aerospace was awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy to manufacture parts for the AIM-9 Sidewinder series of air-to-air missiles. Ford produced the guidance and control parts of the weapons while helping with logistics. The AIM-9 missile was widely used during the Vietnam War, and its improved version is still in use in dozens of countries.
Ford sold the business in 1990 and now it belongs to Lockheed Martin.
11. Ford Bank license
In addition to the town and missiles, Ford even has a bank license.
In the UK, Ford Credit has obtained the banking licences required to issue savings products, offering flexible cash personal savings account services. According to its official website, Ford Credit manages billions of pounds a year.
Renault's RCI Banque division offers similar services in Europe.
12. Honda Robot Asimo
Honda's cross-industry products are much richer, in addition to cars, motorcycles, airplanes, lawn mowers, snow blowers and water pumps. The Japanese giant has also developed a humanoid robot called Asimo that can walk, run, jump and interact with humans.
Asimo is often held in Japan and abroad, and spends other times at Honda's headquarters in central Tokyo.
13. Mitsubishi fighter
Mitsubishi's car-making division shares its name and logo with many other entities. The Group's areas of expertise include mining, building cruise ships, selling real estate, manufacturing electronic toll collection systems, designing high-speed trains, refining and banking.
During World War II, Mitsubishi built the Zero fighter and now manufactures Japanese versions of the F-15, F-16 (pictured below) and F-35 fighter jets under the license of American Aerospace Group Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
14. Toyota House
According to Toyota itself, it has built "comfortable luxury homes of the 21st century" in Japan. The Japanese automaker began dabbling in the real estate market in 1975 and continues to this day. It offers three different types of prefabricated homes that can be built in just 45 days and come with a 60-year warranty.
15. Toyota speedboat
In 1990, Toyota tried to apply its automotive expertise to the marine sector. Its most powerful Ponam 35 (pictured below) is powered by two 4.5-liter V8 diesel engines, which are more common in Land Cruiser SUVs. They offer a total power of 740bhp and a top speed of about 30 knots (35mph) and are 11.95 meters long. Each car costs about $800,000 and can carry 12 people.
Unlike Toyota's production cars, Ponam only builds about 15 ships a year, in addition to producing some slightly smaller, cheaper ships.
16. Citroen V-shaped gear
Before André Citron founded the car company in 1919, he first owned the world's first company specializing in the manufacture of V-shaped gears. They are quieter than straight-cut gears and are stronger, thanks to Citroën's machining technology with the highest precision.
With patents, Citroën founded a number of companies in Russia and France to supply V-shaped gears to numerous customers, including Skoda. Citroën's double V-shaped logo for today's cars is also derived from V-shaped gears.
17. Citroën helicopter
In 1964, Citroën and the German NSU car factory jointly established the Kormobil company specializing in the manufacture of engines, and in 1967, the KOMO company was established. The company's first and only helicopter was designated the RE-2.
The RE-2 failed to obtain flight certification because the engine overheated within the rpm range, and a lengthy study of improvements and upgrades began until the new Peugeot halted the project.
18. Honda private jet
Honda's global reach goes far beyond just building cars.
The Japanese company also produces snow blowers, at-terrain vehicles, motorcycles and even airplanes. The Honda jet, officially known as the HA-420, takes the form of a small aircraft and offers private jet service. It can accommodate up to six passengers and two crew members.
A new aircraft sells for about $6 million, which is a bargain for a private jet. Honda's plant in Greensboro, North Carolina, has produced more than 200 aircraft so far, the best-selling aircraft of its kind.
19. Universal refrigerator
At the beginning of the 20th century, the only way to keep food low and fresh was to put it in an ice box, which also meant that the ice had to be changed daily. In 1915, Alfred Mellowes invented the standalone refrigerator and the following year founded the Guardian Fridgerator Company for mass production.
Guardian was initially so unsuccessful that General Motors president William Durant bought the company in 1919. To this day, the home appliance company, which changed its name to Frigidaire, has become a market leader.
20. Universal washing machine
After the refrigerator business stabilized, Fujidi began to focus on keeping it clean. The top-loading washing machines manufactured by the company were considered superior to front-loading washing machines at the time.
After GM sold the Fujidi to White Consolidated Industries in 1979, the focus shifted to the front loader. Fujidi washing machines and dryers are still manufactured in this form today and now belong to Electrolux, Sweden, the world's second largest manufacturer of consumer appliances.
21. Universal heart pump
The Dodrill-GMR mechanical heart pump was developed by General Research Laboratories in collaboration with surgeon Forest Dodrill. The GM team is led by Edward Rippingille.
This machine is a bit like a 12-cylinder engine. In 1952, Dodriel's team used the machine during heart surgery for Henry Opitek at Harper University in Detroit, and Henry Opitek became the first patient to survive open-heart surgery, after which he lived for 29 years.
22. Universal lunar rover
GM was actively involved in the design and construction of the Lunar Rover (LRV) used in NASA's Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions. According to Ferenc Pavlics, who works at GM's Defense Research Laboratory, the division developed the lunar rover's chassis, wheels, suspension, steering, electric drive, controls and displays, while Boeing was responsible for powertrains, navigation, communications, and integration with the lunar module.
Pavlic came up with the idea of making the lunar rover foldable so that it could be stored in about 30 cubic feet (0.85 cubic meters) of space when transported to the moon. Currently, there are still three rovers on the moon.
23. General purpose tank
The General Motors brand on both sides of the Atlantic built tanks used in World War II and later conflicts. Buick, for example, designed and built the M18 Hellcat, a tank destroyer.
The Cadillac Gage division produced tanks under GM ownership for decades before being acquired by Textron. It is now known as the Textron Ocean and Land System. In Britain, Vauxhall suspended all car production at the Luton plant and worked on building thousands of Churchill tanks.
24. General purpose artillery shells
OzMobil built an astonishing number of artillery shells during World War II. The total production at the Janesville, Kansas City and Lansing plants is said to be more than 45 million, with sizes ranging from 75 mm to 155 mm.
25. Universal sonar buoy
In the brief period between General Motors- owned Hughes Electronics acquiring Magnavox and selling its aerospace and defense operations to the U.S. defense industrial company Raytheon Company, it built a device called a sonar buoy.
Sonar buoys detect sounds in the water and pass them on to the vessel or plane that threw them, or possibly to a satellite. In other applications, they can be used to track enemy submarines.
26. GM acquires Hughes Aircraft Company
Compared with the two companies above to manufacture aircraft, GM directly and hassle-free acquisition of aircraft companies.
In 1985, GM spent $5.2 billion to bid out against Boeing and Ford to buy Hughes Aircraft from the late billionaire Howard Hughes' Howard Hughes Institute of Medicine. The company later merged with Delco Electronics to form GM Hughes Electronics.
Hughes' aerospace technology made GM the first car company to offer a production version of the head-up display in the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
Hughes Electronics manufactures products such as auto parts, commercial satellites and missiles. The company launched a digital television service called DirecTV in 1994 that reached millions of American homes. As profits fell, GM gradually spun off most of its business in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and DirecTV is now part of AT&T.
27. Universal mask & ventilator
Like many other companies around the world, GM began producing masks in the early stages of the pandemic. The General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, is said to be capable of producing 1.5 million masks per month. Later, it began producing more complex mask respirators.
In August 2020, GM fulfilled a U.S. government contract to expand the production of ventilators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The V+ Pro ventilator was designed by Ventec Life Systems, an American medical device company. GM produced 30,000 units in just 154 days, an 80-fold increase in normal productivity.
In April 2021, the General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ontario, received an order from the Public Health Agency of Canada to supply 10 million masks, which went into production in May of the same year. Subsequently, GM handed over operational control of the facility to Ventec.
In fact, there are countless companies that have spent idle factories producing masks, ventilators and other medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the automotive industry, in addition to General Motors, Lamborghini, Ford and Tesla and other well-known car companies, China's BYD, GAC, SAIC and Changan and other companies have joined this team to fight the epidemic.
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