Toyota defended its title as the world's most valuable car brand in a new ranking, holding off BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Tesla, meanwhile, made the biggest improvement, rising two spots to No. 8 because of a 32 percent increase in its brand value. Toyota's brand value decreased 3 percent to $28.7 billion as increased sales were offset by tough currency challenges as well as increased investment and rising labor costs.
Toyota is seen as a reliable, quality value brand. Even when it was going through its recall problems, the users were saying, ‘What’s all the fuss about, my car is fine.’ Toyota has delivered great value for years. BMW remained in second place despite its brand value decreasing 8 percent to $24.6 billion. The decrease was partially due to rising investment costs for new technologies and a sales slowdown in the U.S. Despite the slight dip, the German automaker continued to win over customers in two key areas. BMW is really making money from its position as a leader in the luxury niche. It’s doing so because of different reasons. One is its consistency in delivering great driveability and another is with the its innovation.
Mercedes' value increased by 4 percent to $23.5 billion, which helped it retain the No. 3 spot. The company's record unit sales, revenue and net profit in 2016 played a big role in boosting its brand value as did a restructuring of its company-owned dealer network. The total value of the Top 10 car brands dipped to $139.2 billion from $139.9 billion in 2016. A reason for that is automakers are investing billions in to develop solutions to the many challenges they face including new forms of ownership and greater connectivity of their vehicles.
