The UV brands

We know of Toyota, Honda, Ford and many other car brands, but many brands have entered into niche segments and created a market for themselves by specializing in Off-roaders and mini trucks. The manna of such vehicles used to be Hummer until GM discontinued the Marquee.

1. Isuzu-   Isuzu became the world's largest manufacturer of medium to heavy duty trucks in 2005. By 2009, Isuzu had produced over 21 million diesel engines, which can be found in vehicles all over the world. Isuzu diesel engines are used by Renault, Opel, General Motors and various other car brands. Isuzu makes the D-AX and Panther UV's (Chevrolet Tavera in India.)

2. GMC- GMC is often mispelled as General Motors Corporation brand. GMC trucks is infact a part of the General Motors. GMC offers the same trucks available under the Chevrolet brand. A Sprint, for example, was a rebadged Chevrolet El Camino, the Sierra is a rebadged Chevrolet Silverado, etc. Alongside sister brand Cadillac, all three share the Suburban/Tahoe SUV platform due to Cadillac's upscale Escalade and Escalade ESV brands, with GMC's Yukon Denali being closer to the Escalades. Some of the GMC vehicles include Sierra, Canyon, Acadia, Terrain and Yukon.

3. RAM-  RAM is the newest independant brand under Chrysler after Sergio Marchionne split Dodge into two. The Dodge brand will continue as is minus the trucks which will now be sold under the RAM brand. According to Chrysler, the new brand will concentrate on "real truck customers," rather than casual truck buyers who buy trucks for image or style. The Ram brand logo features the head of a ram, or uncastrated male sheep.

4. JEEP- Jeep is another famous and iconic brand of Utility vehicles from Chrysler LLC.  It is the oldest Off-road brand in the world as per some sources. JEEP is also one of the most profitable brands for Chrysler LLC. Jeep sells vehicles including Grand Cherokee, Liberty, Compass, Patriot and Wrangler.

5. Land Rover- Perhaps the most successfuly off-roading brand in the world, Land Rover has changed ownership a couple of times in its history spanning Leyland group to Ford's Premier Automotive Group. The current owners are TATA motors. It is the second-oldest four-wheel drive car brand in the world (after Jeep). Beginning life as a one car brand under Land Rover the brand currently encompasses Discovery, Range Rover, Defender and Free Lander.

6.Mahindra- The company was set up in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra along with Malik Ghulam Muhammad. Initially set up to manufacture general-purpose utility vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was first known for assembly under licence of the iconic Willy Jeep in India. M&M introduced Jeeps to India and in no time they established themselves as the Jeep manufacturers of India. The company has lately decided to go mainstream after a joint venture with Renault and buyout of Maini, SsangYong (Korea) and an intended purchase of ICML. The manufacturer vehicles such as the Mahindra Scorpio, Mahindra  Thar, Mahindra  Bolero, Mahindra Xylo and Mahindra Major.

7. Force Motors-  Force Motors was founded by N.K.Firodia in 1958 as Firodia Tempo Ltd. After several name changes it is today known in its present state as Force Motors. The company came into limelight with its Matador Van. The company currently makes the Trax and Gurkha UV's with an SUV in the pipeline.