Photo: Interbrand
Last year, BMW was ranked 12th overall in Interbrand’s rankings of the world’s most valuable brands. Back then it held the third position in the automotive world, behind Toyota and Mercedes-Benz. This year the same position was reserved for the Bavarians in the automotive segment, with a slight increase in the overall rankings.
For 2014, the world’s largest brand consultancy company estimates the worth of the Munich-based brand at $34 billion, a $2 billion increase over the previous year.
The factors that chipped in to this growth are also listed and include the EfficientDynamics initiative and the i sub-brand which is its biggest strength:
“The i series brings BMW's mobility ideals to life, proving that the brand is indeed "Fueled by Innovation." Although other leading automotive brands had electric vehicles on the market well before BMW, the German automaker has broken new ground by using carbon-fibre for the passenger cockpit, a material that is thinner than human hair yet tougher than steel.”
Thanks to their Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic offensive, BMW is regarded as bringing the biggest shift in commercial auto manufacturing since the 1980s when the first aluminum car frames were made.
Mercedes-Benz has a slightly better position mostly due to its offensive on all fronts, bringing a revised line-up forward, gaining more and more of the market. However, the battle is bound to heat up in the next years as the difference between the two is minimal.
The top is led by Apple this year, with an estimated worth of $118 billion followed by Google and Coca-Cola on second and third places with values estimated at $107 billion and $81 billion respectively.
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