Toyota Retains Spot As World's Most Valuable Car Brand

Toyota was found to be the world’s most valuable car brand in a recent study conducted by a market research group, with the Japanese automaker boasting a total brand value of $28.7 billion.

The ranking, which is part of the annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, lists the world’s most valuable automakers by overall brand value. Toyota has been in the No. 1 spot for the past 12 years, though its value was down 3 percent this year compared to 2016’s study.

Second on the list was BMW with a total brand value of $24.6 billion. The German automaker’s value dipped 8 percentage points compared to last year, however, which was apparently due to rising investment costs and a sales lull in the U.S. BMW is also beginning to feel the pressure from Mercedes-Benz, with its rival’s value rising 4 percent to $23.5 billion, making it the world’s third most valuable automotive manufacturer.

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The top three automotive manufacturers have a huge gap on the remaining seven. Ford was fourth in the ranking with a value of $13.2 billion, less than half that of Toyota’s, followed by Honda in fifth at $12.2 billion, Nissan in sixth at $11.3 billion, Audi in seventh at $9.1 billion, Tesla in eighth at $5.9 billion, Land Rover in ninth at $5.5 billion and finally Porsche in tenth at $5.1 billion.

Tesla was perhaps the strongest performer of the past year, rising 32 percentage points to surpass Land Rover and Porsche in the ranking. Tesla’s brand value isn’t so much related to its current stable of products, but a promise of what’s to come and an overall brand experience. Much like a technology company, it currently enjoys a strong brand perception that most other automakers do not.

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