Focus on Future Mobility Pushes Hyundai into Top 5 Most Valuable Automotive Brands
South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company has brushed off difficult market conditions in 2020 to break into the top 5 of the automotive global brand value rankings released by Interbrand.
Hyundai’s global brand value grew by 1 per cent in 2020 to $14.3 billion, good enough to land the brand in fifth place in the automotive category and 36th in the overall brand rankings.
The result marks six consecutive top 40 finishes for Hyundai, a credit to how consistently successful the brand has been in recent years.
It is a fantastic result for the brand in a difficult year where the COVID-19 pandemic brought the industry almost to a halt globally.
The magnitude of the difficulties faced by automotive brands in 2020 is clear, with Hyundai the only brand in the top 15 to record a brand value increase.
Hyundai’s tremendous growth in the past 12 months has been attributed to its focus on expanding its footprint in the area of future mobility, an area Hyundai has made a large push in recent times according to the company’s global chief marketing officer Wonhong Cho.
“We’ve adapted to rapidly evolving market conditions to become a leader in future mobility and we’ve also been agile in responding to unexpected factors, such as those caused by the pandemic,” said Cho.
“Based on bold investment and technological competitiveness in the future mobility industry, we will continue to strive to provide better life experiences to our customers and all of humanity and establish ourselves as a brand contributing to human happiness.”
Hyundai has made significant advancements in the area of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology, with the company launching the worlds first commercially available fuel-cell heavy-duty truck earlier this year when seven trucks were delivered to Switzerland.
The brand has also made good of its commitment to the electrification of its fleet, announcing a new sub-brand, the IONIQ EV brand that will host three new EV models in the next four years.
With the automotive industry undergoing rapid transformation at the moment as electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles gain more prominence in the industry, Hyundai has performed admirably in positioning itself for a strong future as the industry continues towards electrification.
Taking out a top spot in the automotive brand value rankings, unsurprisingly, was Toyota, who recorded a brand value of $51.5 billion despite a disappointing 8 per cent decline in value over the last 12 months. This value was good enough to rank Toyota as the seventh-highest valued brand in the world.
Coming in after Toyota were luxury brands Mercedes-Benz, with a brand value of $49.2 billion and BMW, with a brand value of $39.7 billion, while Honda slotted in just ahead of Hyundai in fourth.
Tesla celebrated a record-breaking 12 months to rank sixth, recording a brand value of $12.4 billion on their way to becoming the world’s 40th highest valued brand in yet another indicator of the direction the industry is heading.
2020 Ranking of Automotive Brands
| Ranking | Brand | Brand Value |
| 1 | Toyota | $51.5 billion |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz | $49.2 billion |
| 3 | BMW | $39.7 billion |
| 4 | Honda | $21.6 billion |
| 5 | Hyundai | $14.2 billion |
| 6 | Tesla | $12.7 billion |
| 7 | Ford | $12.5 billion |
| 8 | Audi | $12.4 billion |
| 9 | Volkswagen | $12.2 billion |
| 10 | Porsche | $ 11.3 billion |
Source: Hyundai Motor Company | Hyundai Motor Rises to Top Five Automotive Brands in Interbrand’s 2020 Global Brand Ranking
28 October 2020
