Germany romps home in Interbrand rankings

Germany has dominated the 2013 automotive brand rankings released by brand consultancy Interbrand, with five Teutonic car-makers making it into this year’s top-10 list.

Second country was Japan, with three of its car-makers in the top 10, while Korea followed with just one car-maker for 2013.

Top brand overall was Toyota, which saw its brand value increase by 17 per cent over 2012 to US $3.53 billion. In second spot, Mercedes-Benz increased its brand value by six per cent to US$3.19 billion, while BMW came in third with a 10 per cent jump on 2012 for a brand value of US$3.18 billion.

The top 10 list, in addition to Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, was made up of an international mix including Honda (up seven per cent) in fourth place, Volkswagen (up 20 per cent) in fifth, Ford (up 15 per cent) in sixth, Hyundai (up 20 per cent) in seventh, Audi (up eight per cent) in eighth, Porsche (up 26 per cent) in ninth and Nissan (up 25 per cent) in 10th. Hyundai-owned Kia, which was up 15 per cent on last year, just missed out on a top 10 ranking in 11th place.

In the overall brand rankings announced by Interbrand, Apple toppled Coca-Cola – which moved from number one to number three – as the highest-ranked brand for 2013, while Google moved into second place. Fourth overall was IBM, with Microsoft ranking number five.

Among the car-makers, Toyota was ranked 10th highest brand overall, followed by Mercedes-Benz at 11th and BMW at 12th. Honda was ranked 20, Volkswagen at 34th position and Ford at 42nd. Korean car-maker Hyundai, after nine consecutive years in the top 100, made it into the top 50 for the first time, in 43rd position.

The Interbrand rankings are calculated using companies’ financial balance sheets, combined with marketing activities, while also reflecting each brand’s potential profit.

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