Toyota pegged as most valuable auto brand

Toyota has topped the latest Brand Finance Auto 100 annual study. Conducted by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance, the study determines which are the most powerful and most valuable.

 

Toyota has consolidated its status as the world’s most valuable auto brand. Impressive growth of 34 percent means Toyota’s brand is now worth USD 34.9 billion/Rs 2,15,786 crore, ahead of BMW (USD 29bn/Rs 179,307 crore) and Volkswagen (USD 27bn/Rs 166,941 crore). 

 

Looking ahead, Toyota must negotiate the potential pothole of a 1.9 million unit recall of its Hybrid Prius model and the resulting loss of consumer confidence. The Japanese carmaker has faced similar challenges in the recent years. While brand value took a hit in the short term, it also rebounded quickly, suggesting that Toyota’s brand is powerful and resilient enough to see it through the latest issue.

 

Those already causing a stir at the ongoing Geneva motor show include Audi, which has just revealed its new TT. Its brand value is up 30 percent to USD 7 billion/Rs 43,281 crore. Brands valued for the first time include Maserati (USD 693m/Rs 4,284 crore), which presented its Alfieri coupe concept, Lamborghini (USD 677m/Rs 4,185 crore) which unveiled the Huracan, which will replace the outgoing Gallardo and Tesla (USD 1.2bn/Rs 7,419 crore) whose share price is soaring as it forges a reputation as perhaps the only credible electric car brand.

 

Ferrari is again the world's most powerful auto brand, in fact the most powerful brand from any industry. It scores highly on a wide variety of measures on Brand Finance’s Brand Strength Index, from desirability, loyalty and consumer sentiment to visual identity, online presence and employee satisfaction. The exceptional AAA+ brand rating has been preserved thanks to the strategic decision to cap production at 7,000, maintaining the brand’s exclusivity. As a result, despite a 4 percent fall in production last year, brand value rose 12 percent to USD 4 billion/Rs 24,732 crore.

Ferrari’s latest branding coup is its involvement in the launch of the ‘CarPlay’ system, which integrates a user’s iPhone into an onboard display. This collaboration between Apple, the world’s most valuable brand (worth USD 105bn/Rs 6,49,215 crore) and Ferrari, the world’s most powerful, could be the start of the ultimate brand partnership.

 

Unsurprisingly, German, Japanese and American-owned brands dominate the table, accounting for 74 percent of the total USD 388 billion/Rs 23,99,004 crore brand value. France and Italy’s share of brand ownership is increasingly threatened by rising Asian manufacturers based in India, South Korea and China. Notable by its absence is the UK. The UK may be a leader in automotive technology, the base for eight Formula1 teams and the original home of brands now worth USD 13.6 billion, but none of the world’s 100 auto brands are now British owned.

Overall, the auto industry performed strongly last year, thanks to a combination of global economic recovery and increased demand in both the United States and Asia. The brand value of the top 50 brands rose by USD 55 billion to USD 346 billion, and the gross margins of the five biggest manufacturers are the highest they have been for 10 years.

 

Brand Finance chief executive David Haigh said, “The increasing market share of the biggest manufacturers coupled with a trend for joint ventures and alliances has resulted in vehicles that are mechanically more homogeneous. Consequently, brand will play an increasingly important role in shaping consumer preference over the coming years, not just for the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche but for mass market manufacturers too.”