Product variety is a trend in many different industries and it is a subject with an increasing relevance to the business and academic arena. The management of product variety must seek to balance the benefits from the marketing perspective with the negative effects, in general, from the operations and logistics perspective, thus becoming a major challenge for industries where product variety is higher, such as the auto industry. This master`s dissertation is an empirical study that aims to quantify, compare and analyze the behavior of the variety of products in the most significant global automobile markets. Passenger cars manufactured by the five largest groups of automakers in the world (Toyota, GM, Volkswagen, Ford and Honda) and variables of product variety in the auto industry such as platforms, brands, models, versions, body type, power-trains, paint & trim, factory fitted options and dealer fitted options were used as objects of study. As a result, it was verified in which point of the supply chain the proliferation of automotive products occurs and the distinct way in which this variety is managed is analyzed in different markets downstream the chain from the car factory.