2009 Best Global Brands – How did carmakers do?
Recently, BusinessWeek and leading brand consultancy firm Interbrand published their annual Best Global Brands list ranking the world’s top 100 trade marks. For the ninth successive year, Coca-Cola has been ranked the world’s top brand, with IBM, Microsoft, and GE trailing in its wake. The biggest growths were made by Google, Amazon, and Zara, with their brand values increasing by 25%, 22%, and 14% respectively. Not every one had it good though. Notable names such as Merrill Lynch, AIG, and ING were even wiped out from the list altogether.
The world’s most valuable brand.
Perhaps due to the current climate of economic uncertainty, the overall value of the top 100 brands has declined by 4.6% compared to 2008. Brands in the food industry, such as McD, Kellogg’s, and Nestle, registered growth, whereas banks and automakers were hit the worst. You know the news is bad when Hyundai prides itself for having the lowest decline in brand value at 5%. Ferrari registered 0% decline, but everyone else’s brand value took a hit, averaging a 7.4% decline.
The least declining auto brand
Toyota continues to top the list among auto manufacturers, sitting at 8th place with a brand value of US$31b, declining by 8% from 2008. German giants Mercedes-Benz and BMW follow closely at 12th and 15th placing. Toyota’s arch-rivals, Honda, sit three places below the propellor badge at 18th place, with a brand value of US$17.8b.
Still the world’s top auto brand.
American giants Ford, more than US$10b less valuable a brand than Honda, is the 5th biggest auto brand at 49th place. Volkswagen and its subsidiary, Audi, are seperated by ten places at 55th and 65th spots respectively. At 69th place is Hyundai, at US$4.6b, is a more valuable brand than Porsche, Ferrari, and Lexus. Hyundai debuted in this ranking list in 2005 at 84th place, and has been making steady annual growth since then.
“Thanks to eye-catching products like Genesis and the innovative marketing such as the Assurance program, Hyundai is making a big splash in the world market,“ Interbrand said.
Products like the Genesis has helped raise Hyundai’s profile.
BusinessWeek’s “Best Global Brands” special report is featured in the September 28, 2009 issue, on newsstands Friday, September 18th. Expanded content, including full (more) methodology, is available on BusinessWeek.com at www.businessweek.com/go/brand and on Interbrand.com at http://www.thebestglobalbrands.com.
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