Toyota ranked world’s best automotive brand second year running

Automotive brand value rose by 9% in the 2023 Interbrand best global brands ranking announced on November 21, with Toyota holding onto its position as the top motoring marque.

In an annual survey of the world’s top 100 brands, Toyota retained its sixth overall spot in the 2023 rankings behind tech firms Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Samsung.

Mercedes-Benz overtook Coca-Cola to move up one spot into seventh overall and second best automotive brand compared to last year. BMW (#10) entered the top 10 for the first time. Porsche (#47) Hyundai (#32) and Ferrari (#70) all achieved a double-digit rate of growth and accounted for three of the top five fastest-growing brands.

Tesla held its position in the table this year (#12), but its rate of growth was the slowest among the automotive brands with its brand value increasing 4.0% compared to BMW and Mercedes, which grew 10.4% and 9.5% respectively.

Other automotive brands in the 2023 top 100 were Honda (#27), Audi (#45), Volkswagen (#50), Ford (#51), Nissan (#63) and Kia (#88).

The rise of automotive marques contrasted with many of the world's top 100 brands stagnating this year, said Interbrand. The rate of growth in the overall brand value of the table slowed sharply to 5.7% after last year's 16% increase, taking the total brand value to $3.3-trillion (about R60.7-trillion) from $3.1-trillion in 2022.

The US brand consulting company Interbrand has been researching and analysing the most valuable brands in the world since 1999. The annual Best Global Brands study examines all candidates according to three criteria: financial performance of the brand's products or services, role of the brand in the purchase decision process, and strength of the brand with regards to securing the company’s future earnings.