Asian Brands Climb in Annual Brand Ranking

In an annual survey ranking global brand value put together by Interbrand Corp. and Business Week magazine, Toyota, BMW, Honda, and Nissan made gains while Mercedes-Benz and Ford continued to fall.

Toyota was ninth overall in the world with a global value of $24.8 billion, and gained 10 percent. Mercedes was 11th overall with a value of $20.1 billion, down 6 percent. BMW was 16th overall with a global value of $17.1 billion, up 8 percent. Honda ranked 19th overall at $15.8 billion, up 6 percent. Ford ranked 22nd at $13.2 billion, down 9 percent. Volkswagen ranked 56th at $5.6 billion, down 12 percent. Porsche ranked 76th at $3.8 billion, up 4 percent from a year ago. Audi ranked 79th at $3.7 billion, up 12 percent. Hyundai ranked 84th at $3.5 billion and was new to the Top 100 ranking. Nissan ranked 85th at $3.2 billion, up 13 percent.

Interbrand determines global brand value starting with those brands that are worth more than a billion dollars and derive at least one-third of their business outside of their home market. Interbrand then projects five years of sales earnings for the brand based on publicly available financial reports and deducts costs including operating expenses, taxes, and costs of capital to arrive at a value that can be ascribed to the brand. It's a bit of a "black box" valuation, but one that the firm and magazine have been doing for five years. General Motors brands didn't make the list because of the way the company is structured and because its brand tend to be regional. Cadillac, for example, does not derive a third of its sales and profit outside the U.S. Likewise, Vauxhall in the U.K.

The rises and falls in brand value seem to mirror the trend of sales, earnings, and brand performance as it can be determined from the success of the brands and individual products. Nissan, Hyundai, and Audi posted strong gains as all three have been enjoying great momentum from new product designs. Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Ford have all be falling in earnings and reception of new products. Interbrand global director Jan Lindemann says that VW is seeing a decline in brand value in part because its newest products are muddying what VW stands for in the global marketplace. The design of the new Golf, he says, was too conservative and product choices like the luxury Phaeton and Touareg SUV have created a situation where the VW brand counts for less in the overall value of the company. Meantime, Nissan has the opposite situation, he says, in that it's been growing the value of its once moribund brand through expressive designs that generate higher sales profit per vehicle. The Ford brand has been falling on all cylinders in terms of profitability and reception of new designs.

Porsche ranked 76th at $3.8 billion, up 4 percent from a year ago. Audi ranked 79th at $3.7 billion, up 12 percent. Hyundai ranked 84th at $3.5 billion and was new to the Top 100 ranking. Nissan ranked 85th at $3.2 billion, up 13 percent.

Hyundai ranked 84th at $3.5 billion and was new to the Top 100 ranking.