Toyota Reclaims World's Most Valuable Automotive Brand Title
Japanese auto major, Toyota is not just the top-selling global brand, it has now overtaken BMW to become the world's most valuable automotive brand, as per an annual market study done by BrandZ. Mercedes-Benz caught the third spot this year. Toyota which had lost its position to BMW, has reclaimed the top spot once again in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013 published today. Toyota’s brand value increased by 12% to $24.5 billion (£16.2 billion), making it one of the biggest movers in the automotive sector.
BrandZ report has been publishing its reports for eight years, and Toyota has been crowned brand value leader in the auto sector six times, and second on two other occasions. Toyota's global sales in 2012 increased by 22.6% to 9.75 million units, which has helped the company in brand valuation in this year's report.
BrandZ also suggests that brand value developments in the sector were shaped in part by the growth of customer affinity towards hybrid vehicles. Toyota has also earned the respect by developing world's first mass produced full hybrid vehicle in 1997- Toyota Prius. Sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid models have crossed 5 million mark globally. Lexus has retained its 10th position in the list of Top 10 for the most valuable automotive brands with a brand value of $3.5 billion.