[Navarr]

I think they're made by HTC in the same way Apple's phones are made by Foxconn, which is the reason I used the "made by" in quotes.

As I think it's disingenuous to consider the Pixel another company's phone (like the Nexus line was)

[Fej]

The current suspicion is that the phone was almost entirely designed by HTC.

It appears that it was a phone that HTC had in the works, but then changed to the Pixel when Google rang.