For the car manufacturer BMW things are going well at the moment. While the two competitors Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz had to reduce their targets, BMW boss Oliver Zipse (59) announced further increases in profits and sales for the third quarter. In addition, the Munich-based group climbed into the top ten in the global brand ranking of the Interbrand consultancy. As the third automobile and only the second European brand, BMW has landed in the highest ranks of the most valuable global brands for the first time with a brand value of around 51 billion US dollars (47 billion euros), Interbrand announced in its new study.
Overall, the automotive industry is also one of the winners in this year’s ranking, it said. The sector’s growth rate is 9 percent – the highest growth rate of all categories. In addition to BMW and Mercedes-Benz – in 7th place with 61 billion US dollars – what shines above all else Porsche with a growth rate of 20 percent. With the very successful IPO, a new brand identity and many successful activities outside of the core business, Porsche is one of the top winners of the year. Volkswagen (+2 percent, $15 billion, 50th place) and Tesla (+4 percent, 50 billion US dollars, 12th place), however, could not build on the successes of previous years.
Once again in first place in this year’s brand ranking Apple. According to the announcement, the iPhone group achieved a brand value of more than half a trillion US dollars for the first time. There are no changes in places two to five, but there is a lot of movement in places five to ten: There Mercedes-Benz overtakes Coca-Cola and BMW pushes Disney out of the top ten.
Overall, brand growth has slowed, Interbrand continued. The total brand value of all companies only grew by 6 percent (previous year: 16 percent) to 3.3 trillion US dollars. The only newcomer to the top 100 is the coffee capsule manufacturer Nespresso, with a brand value of six billion US dollars in 98th place. And the software company Oracle returned after an absence of several years in 19th place.