Car Stocks: Eight Ways Take Your Portfolio for a Spin

If you are looking for one of the ultimate contrarian plays, with the price of oil over $100 a barrel, with consumer confidence down, and the country heading into a recession, how about considering car manufacturing stocks.

General Motors Corporation (GM) is the largest automobile manufacturer in the United States. Its brands in the U.S. include Chevrolet, Buick, Saab, GMC, Pontiac, Cadillac, Hummer, and Saturn, and outside the U.S. include, Opel, Vauxhall, Isuzu, Holden, and Daewoo.

The stock has a forward P/E of 9, and pays a yield of 4.1%. GM also has some convertible bonds available, which is a safer way to invest in the company.

Ford Motor Co. (F) comes right after GM in terms of market cap. The Ford brands include Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Aston Martin.

The company is currently generating negative earnings, and the stock has a forward P/E of 9. Ford also has convertible bonds available for investing in the company that are alternatives to the common stock.

Toyota (TM) is the largest car company in the world by market cap, which is almost twice the size of Ford. Its brands include the Prius, Corolla, Yaris, Camry, Mark X, Premio, Allion, Blade, Avensis, Lexus, Crown, Century, Toyota, Lexus SC430, Scion tC, Tacoma, Tundra, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Highlander, Land Cruiser, RAV4, Sequoia, Sienna, Alphard, Sienna, Estima, Hiace, Regius Ace, Noah, Voxy, Wish, Sienta, and Isis.

It has a P/E of 10, and a PEG is 1.76. The stock has a yield of 2%.

The next largest car maker is Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (HMC) has brands that include Legend, Accord, Civic, City, Acura, Elysion, Odyssey, Step Wagon, Edix, FR-V, Stream, Mobilio, Crossroad, Fit, Jazz, Airwave, Pilot, Ridgeline, Element, CR-V, Acura, Life, That's, Vamos, Zest, and Acty.

The stock has a P/E of 16, a PEG of 2.48, and pays a yield of 2%.

The German based Daimler AG (DAI) makes various Mercedes-Benz cars, including S-Class, E-Class, C-Class, A-Class, B-Class, M-Class, R-Class, GL-Class, and G-Class.

It also makes Maybach luxury sedans. It has a P/E of 35, a PEG of 2.69, and pays a yield of 1.7%.

Tata Motors Ltd. (TTM) is based in Mumbai, India. It manufactures cars, trucks, buses, and other vehicles.

It has a P/E of 12, a PEG of 0.76, and even pays a dividend of 2.1%.

Nissan Motor (NSANY), which trades on NASDAQ, is another Japanese manufacturer of passenger vehicles.

The stock has a P/E of 9.5, and pays a yield of 3.98%.

Peugeot S A (PEUGY.PK), which trades on the Pink Sheets, is a Paris, France-based manufacturer of passenger vehicles and light commercial trucks. Its brands include Peugeot and Citroen.

The stock has a P/E of 13.2.

Disclosure: The author owns DCX and F.