Toyota retains top spot - best car brands - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Toyota has retained the top spot for automotive brands after being named the most valuable car marque in the world in a survey of top 100 brands by the research company Interbrand. In the 2012 Best Global Brands top 100 list, Toyota was ranked tenth, rising one place compared to 2011’s rankings. The company’s brand value was judged to be 30.3 billion dollars, an increase of nine percent. The next top automotive brand was Mercedes-Benz, which also rose one spot to 11th. German luxury maker BMW jumped from 15th place in 2011 to 12th this year, with an increase of 18 percent to a 29.1 billion dollars brand value.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Nissan has been named as the biggest improver among the car makers. It rose from 90th spot last year to 73rd in 2012, and the Japanese car maker’s brand value leaped by 30 percent to 4.96 billion dollars. Ford, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche all made gains on their 2012 positions. Honda was the only car brand to slip down the rankings, falling from 19th last year to 21st in 2012. Its brand value dropped by 11 percent to 17.3 billion dollars.

Top ranking car brands are: Toyota (10th overall; brand value $30.23bn; +1 position) Mercedes-Benz (11th; $30.1bn; +1 position) BMW (12th; $29.1bn; +3 positions) Honda (21st; $17.3bn; -2 positions) Volkswagen (39th; $9.3bn; +8 positions) Ford (45th; $8.0bn; +5 positions) Hyundai (53rd; $7.5bn; +8 positions) Audi (55th; $7.2bn; +4 positions) Porsche (72nd; $5.2bn; no change) Nissan (73rd; $5.0bn; +17 positions) Kia (87th; $4.1bn; new entry) Ferrari (99th; $3.8bn; no change)

Toyota retains top spot in world’s best car brands