The history of IHS Markit Automotive (Now Mobility Global)
IHS Markit's automotive business is now Mobility Global. Trace the history from then to now, and find the forecasts, vehicle data, and insights you used.
If you’re searching for IHS Markit, IHS Automotive, or IHS Markit Automotive, then you’re in the right place. That business now lives here, as Mobility Global — an independent public company focused on delivering the automotive data and expertise you rely on.
Mobility Global offers the same forecasts, IHS data, and insights you’ve known for years, now under one focused mobility intelligence company.
We deliver must-have insight into consumers, vehicles, and markets that you can't get anywhere else — at the right time, in the right way, for you.
Looking for something specific? Start here:
Whether you used IHS forecast tools, IHS vehicle data, or IHS production forecasts, there’s a direct path to it here. And more importantly, it still does the same job: helping you make vital decisions across the automotive ecosystem with confidence.
From IHS to Mobility Global: the full story
A quick timeline:
- 1870 — R.L. Polk & Co. was founded, pioneering some of the industry's first automotive statistical services.
- 1959 — IHS was founded. From technical engineering information to business intelligence, IHS was built on helping people make better decisions.
- 1969 — DRI was founded, combining macroeconomic and automotive forecasting expertise
- 2001 — DRI and WEFA merge to form Global Insight
- 2007 — Global Insight acquires SupplierBusiness, adding supplier and technology intelligence
- 2008 — IHS acquires Global Insight
- 2010 — IHS acquires CSM Worldwide and iSuppli, expanding production forecasting and technology expertise
- 2013 — IHS acquires R.L. Polk & Co.
- 2016 — IHS Markit is formed after a merger of IHS and Markit
- 2022 — S&P Global acquires IHS Markit, creating the S&P Global Mobility division
- 2026 — S&P Global Mobility spins off as Mobility Global, becoming the home of automotive data and insights brands including IHS Markit, Polk, Market Scan, automotiveMastermind, and CARFAX.
As the business evolved, so did the expertise behind it. Today, you can explore our latest automotive insights, including expert analysis, industry reports, newsletters, and thought leadership.
1870-1922: The foundation of automotive intelligence
R.L. Polk & Co. was founded in 1870. In 1922, it launched some of the industry's first automotive statistical services, helping businesses understand vehicle ownership, registration, and market activity.
Those early reports laid the groundwork for the automotive intelligence that powers Mobility Global today.
1959: The beginning of IHS
IHS began as Information Handling Services, focused on something very specific: helping aerospace engineers access technical information through microfilm databases.
The idea was simple: give people the data they need to make critical decisions. Over time, IHS became one of the world's largest sources of engineering and technical information, laying the foundation for turning complex data into clear, confident business moves.
1969-2010: Building the forecasting engine
DRI was founded in 1969 and became a major provider of macroeconomic data and automotive forecasting, covering vehicle sales, production and powertrain trends. After merging with WEFA to form Global Insight in 2001, it strengthened the connection between automotive forecasts and the economic forces shaping the industry.
In 2008, IHS acquired Global Insight, bringing economic forecasting, automotive intelligence and supplier expertise together under one company. Through Global Insight, SupplierBusiness, and further acquisitions of CSM Worldwide and iSuppli in 2010, IHS expanded its capabilities in automotive technology, production forecasting and semiconductor research. Together, these capabilities helped create the forecasting engine that customers would come to know as IHS Automotive.
1984-1993: The customer lens
CARFAX was founded in 1984, providing vehicle history insights and a broader view of the marketplace to help consumers and businesses identify opportunities and minimize risk. CARFAX was later acquired by Polk in 1993.
2012-2016: Building IHS Automotive
Founded in 2012 and acquired by IHS Markit in 2017, automotiveMastermind uses the power of predictive analytics to enable automotive retailers to connect with buyers and deliver an exceptional purchasing experience.
Everything changed in 2013, when IHS acquired R.L. Polk & Co., bringing together decades of vehicle registration data, sales insights, and lifecycle intelligence. The acquisition also included CARFAX, adding complementary consumer-focused vehicle history data alongside Polk’s industry-leading automotive intelligence. Together, these data assets strengthened IHS Automotive’s forecasting and market analysis capabilities.
Polk added detailed registration and consumer data through CARFAX. For the first time, IHS could connect both sides of the market: what manufacturers were building, what consumers were buying, and how vehicle ownership changed over time.
Those capabilities were built over many years through businesses including DRI, Global Insight, SupplierBusiness, CSM Worldwide, Polk and iSuppli, bringing together economic forecasting, automotive forecasts, supplier intelligence, technology expertise and vehicle data.
Together, they helped companies:
- plan production across global markets
- understand shifts in demand
- test key assumptions
- make decisions with greater confidence
These businesses created one of the industry's most comprehensive views of the automotive market, covering more than 50 countries, over 600 production plants and thousands of vehicle models
In 2016, IHS merged with Markit to form IHS Markit.
Markit brought leading financial and market intelligence capabilities. Combined with IHS's automotive, supply chain, and macroeconomic expertise, it created an even broader view of how the industry moves. Together, the combined company created one of the most comprehensive automotive data and insight platforms.
For customers, the creation of IHS Markit meant deeper and more connected forecasts, broader datasets across markets and regions and stronger links between economic trends and automotive demand, making IHS Markit Automotive really stand apart.
Whether you were using an IHS automotive forecast, analyzing IHS volumes, or working with detailed market datasets, everything was connected in a way that made planning clearer and more actionable.
2022: S&P Global Mobility
In 2022, S&P Global acquired IHS Markit, creating its Mobility division, expanding its global reach and strengthening the connection between mobility intelligence and broader financial and economic data. Later, S&P Global Mobility acquired Market Scan, strengthening pricing, incentives and payment analytics capabilities in North America.
The creation of S&P Global Mobility expanded the scale and reach of these capabilities. It brought mobility intelligence closer to broader financial and economic insight, helping customers:
- connect market trends with business decisions
- understand demand shifts earlier
- navigate a rapidly changing industry with greater confidence
Forecasting became more than a set of numbers. It became a way to understand where the industry was headed and what to do next.
2026: Mobility Global
In 2026, the mobility division formally separated from S&P Global and became an independent public company: Mobility Global.
This is the next chapter and the one you’re in now.
Mobility Global brings together everything built over decades:
- light vehicle production and sales forecasts
- vehicle registration and sales data
- trusted brands like CARFAX and Polk
The focus is simple: give you must-have intelligence you can’t get anywhere else, so you can make decisions with confidence.
So, while the name has changed from IHS to IHS Markit Automotive to Mobility Global today, the capability hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s just more focused, more connected, and entirely built for the future of mobility.
What you knew and where it is now
Everything you relied on from IHS and IHS Markit still exists. It just lives here under Mobility Global.
Here's a quick guide to help you find what you need:
What IHS Markit Automotive delivered
At its core, IHS Markit Automotive was about enabling defensible decisions.
Its forecasting solutions helped companies plan for demand across 7- and 12-year horizons, understand competitive dynamics and market growth, map production across plants, regions, and models.
Today, Mobility Global still helps you achieve the same. Our light vehicle sales forecasts give long-term visibility into demand, production forecasts help you validate OEM plans and assess capacity across global manufacturing networks, and powertrain forecasts track the shift toward alternative propulsion and new technologies.
All of this was built on a single global framework, allowing consistent comparisons across markets and strategies.
Make your next move with confidence
Everything you trusted about IHS Markit Automotive now lives within Mobility Global. Explore our Planning Solutions for the forecasts, data and insights you rely on.
Looking for something else? Visit the Mobility Global homepage to explore our full range of automotive data, solutions, and insights.
If you have any questions, please contact your account representative or reach out to us here: +1 845-205-0145.