Brand value is a dynamic concept that cannot be determined precisely and is vulnerable to many volatile factors. However, if one company can command a surplus price over another company's, then its brand value perfectly reflects its total worth in the eyes of the consumers. The fact can be easily applied to the automobile market as the brand name plays an important role when a customer goes to buy a car.
The yearly BrandZ Top 100 Global Survey is one of the best tools to determine an organisation's brand value against its competition. Millward Brown, an influential market research firm, is commissioned by the WPP on an annual basis to generate a list of top 100 brands in the world in terms of market value.
As per recent report prepared by the research firm, brands across the globe have continued to grow in value in spite of the ongoing economic turbulence. After losing out to Toyota last year, BMW reclaimed the peak position in 2012. The German company's worth stood at USD 24.62 after a hike of 10 per cent in its brand value over last year. On the other hand, Toyota's total value was USD 21.78 billion after a dip of 10 per cent. During the uncontrolled acceleration problem that its vehicles faced two years ago, Toyota had lost its brand reliability. However, it managed to scavenge some of its trust back after the Japanese car maker received the most awards for dependability in the J.D. Power and Associates dependability study.
Meanwhile the heightened demand for luxury cars in China has benefited luxury brands, particularly Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz. China continues to generate large portion of sales volumes for major luxury brands and remains the world's largest emerging car market. Notably, General Motors (GM) did not see any of its brands make it to the top 10 list, even though it is the number one automobile company in the world in terms of sales.
The other companies that were among the top 10 brands for the automotive sector in BrandZ Top 100 Global Survey included Mercedes Benz (USD 16.11 billion), Honda Motor Company (USD 12.65 billion) and Nissan (USD 9.85 billion) at third, fourth and fifth positions. Volkswagen (USD 8.52 billion), Ford (USD 7.03) and Audi (USD 4.70 billion) were placed sixth, seventh and eighth. This list was rounded off by Hyundai (USD 3.60 billion) and Lexus (USD 3.39 billion).
With seven brands in top ten and 31 in top 100, technology and telecommunication sector dominates this list with almost half of total value. Technology major Apple Inc. retained its top position for the second consecutive year with 19 per cent growth, with valuation of USD 182.9 billion. IBM marked 15 per cent growth and was valued at USD 115.9 billion thereby overstepping Google to claim the second spot. The search giant is worth USD 107.8 billion and is perched on third position.
