What do Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and other motoring brands do when they aren’t making cars?

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Did you know that Lamborghini, the builder of high performance supercars, also produces farming machinery such as tractors within its side business, Lamborghini Trattori?

And that the Mitsubishi Group has interests in food catering services and banking?

You might think that brands like Toyota, Ford and Nissan have the sole job of producing cars, however, many global car manufacturers are often part of much bigger companies that invest in an array of industries. 

Let’s take a look at what some of the biggest car makers build and invest in, other than cars.

Toyota Corporation 

Toyota may be known for cars like the Corolla, Prius and Hilux, but it’s also involved in a range of other industries . 

Toyota has invested in the past into areas including robotics, agriculture biotechnology, sewing machines, technology education institutes, aerospace and luxury boats (sold in Japan only). 

An interesting fact is that the Toyota Corporation also cross-owns 0.25 percent of Mazda and 0.2 percent of Suzuki, along with 20 percent of Subaru.

Honda Motor Corporation 

Honda is obviously known for its motor vehicles and motorcycles, too, however it also invests heavily in robotics, jet aircraft, lawn and garden equipment and electric generators. 

Some of the most interesting things that Honda builds are inflatable boats and the very quirky ASIMO robot which was built as part of Honda’s research and development into human-like robotics. 

Honda also builds small private aircraft, like the HondaJet. 

Mitsubishi Group

As well as building cars and heavy trucks, Mitsubishi is big in Japan’s financial industry. In fact, Mitsubishi’s banking arm, known as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is the largest financial institution in Japan, with current assets worth around USD$3.1 trillion. 

But other than looking after your hard-earned savings, the Mitsubishi Group is also known for building air conditioning units, Nikon cameras (Nikon is part of the Mitsubishi Group), nuclear power and trucks.

Hyundai Motor Group

Hyundai might be known for cars like the i30 hatch, the Tucson SUV or its performance N products, but Hyundai has interests elsewhere. 

Hyundai now owns the Boston Dynamics robotic company, as well as a steel manufacturing company, an engineering and construction firm, produces military equipment and owns a financial services business. 

Mercedes-Benz Group

Much like Mitsubishi, the Mercedes-Benz Group also operates its own bank, as well as providing financial services through Mercedes Mobility. 

Nissan Motor Corporation

This brand may be known for the Skyline GT-R and Patrol SUV, however it also makes forklifts, commercial equipment and, in the past, produced solid rocket motors for orbital launch vehicles headed for space. 

Subaru Corporation

Subaru has built some iconic cars in its time, however it has also been active in the aerospace industry. 

The Subaru brand was previously called Fuji Heavy Industries and has produced military aircraft and helicopters under licence for companies including Boeing and Lockheed Martin – major players in the aerospace business.