Automotive stocks: 11 companies analyzed
The 11 automotive companies Fintols covers, such as Ford, General Motors and Tesla: P/E, growth, margin and dividend with dated figures.
The automotive group covers carmakers and truck makers, parts suppliers (tires, electrical systems, seats, batteries) and aftermarket parts retailers. Automakers make money selling vehicles through dealer networks, and many also run a captive finance arm that lends or leases cars to buyers. Suppliers live on multiyear contracts tied to specific models, while aftermarket businesses earn their keep by servicing the cars already on the road. Software, electrification and driver assistance features are becoming a growing part of the value in every new vehicle.
This is a cyclical, low-margin industry, so look at operating margin per vehicle and at delivery volumes. The finance arm complicates things: it inflates consolidated debt, so try to separate the industrial business from the lending side. Check free cash flow from the manufacturing operations, the investment needed for the shift to electric vehicles and inventory levels at dealerships. That is partly why many legacy automakers trade at low P/E ratios that don’t automatically mean bargains.
Classic risks include recessions, when people postpone buying a car, competition from newer electric vehicle makers, tariffs, emissions rules and shortages of parts such as chips. As a beginner, be careful about simply comparing the P/E of a traditional automaker with that of a buzzy EV company. Those multiples reflect very different expectations, and it pays to understand what the market is already assuming before drawing conclusions. Looking at several years at once helps you capture the full cycle, both the boom years and the slumps.
With data as of November 4, 2026, of the 11 automotive companies Fintols covers, the largest by market value is Tesla ($1.52 trillion) among those quoted in dollars and Ferrari (€67.0 billion) among those quoted in euros, the fastest-growing in its latest quarter is NIO (+69.1% in sales) and the highest dividend yield belongs to Mercedes-Benz (8.50%). The typical company in the group trades on a P/E of 20.2x and keeps a net margin of 0.5% (medians). Figures come from Yahoo Finance, the same source the Fintols analysis uses; N/A means the figure is not available.
Automotive companies on Fintols
| Company | Market cap | P/E | Revenue growth | Net margin | Dividend yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla (TSLA) | $1.52 trillion | N/A | -0.2% | 3.1% | 0.00% |
| General Motors (GM) | $78.5 billion | 20.2x | +2.9% | 2.1% | 0.82% |
| Ferrari (RACE.MI) | €67.0 billion | 41.9x | +7.4% | 22.5% | 0.96% |
| Ford (F) | $50.6 billion | N/A | -2.0% | -4.2% | 4.87% |
| Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) | €40.2 billion | 7.3x | -4.5% | 4.2% | 8.50% |
| BMW (BMW.DE) | €36.5 billion | 5.9x | -7.9% | 4.9% | 7.48% |
| Volkswagen (VOW3.DE) | €35.7 billion | 33.7x | -6.3% | 0.5% | 7.49% |
| Rivian (RIVN) | $20.5 billion | N/A | +38.3% | -45.9% | 0.00% |
| Stellantis (STLAM.MI) | €12.1 billion | N/A | +1.1% | -9.5% | 0.00% |
| NIO (NIO) | $8.3 billion | N/A | +69.1% | -4.2% | 0.00% |
| Lucid (LCID) | $1.3 billion | N/A | +56.2% | -249.2% | 0.00% |
Automotive comparisons
- Ford vs General Motors
- Ford vs Rivian
- Ford vs Ferrari
- General Motors vs Rivian
- General Motors vs Ferrari
- Ford vs Tesla
- General Motors vs Tesla
- Rivian vs Tesla
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