Brand equity trend analysis for top auto brands on Interbrand’s 20-year longitudinal data

This study aims to explore the brand equity trends among the top 100 global automobile brands during the last two decades. Using 20 years of longitudinal data published by Interbrand on brand equity ranking of 100 Best Global Brands (2001–2020), a trend analysis was performed on 18 global automobile brands that appeared on this list. The trend analysis was conducted based on the aggregated annual brand equity of all brands, the number of brands by region and country, growth patterns in brand equity and per-unit brand equity (UBE) for six countries and three regions. Major trends presented in the article include the relegation of American brands, the resilience of Asian brands, the dominance of European brands, the deleterious impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic on the automobile industry, four clusters within the best automobile brands and per UBE. The clusters include leaders, challengers, starlets and intermittent. The ‘Leader’ cluster includes top brands like Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, Ford and Volkswagen and appeared 20 times in 20 years on Interbrand’s global brand list with minimum brand equity of US$12bn in 2020. The ‘Challengers’ cluster includes brands like Hyundai, Audi, Porsche and Nissan, which have a higher brand equity growth rate than other clusters. The ‘Starlet’ cluster includes Ferrari, Land Rover, Kia and Mini Cooper, all of which are operating in niche markets, except for Kia. The fourth cluster, named ‘Intermittent’, includes auto brands like Chevrolet, Subaru, Lexus and Tesla. The analysis of per UBE presented in this article for the first time has shown a novel way of looking at automobile brand equity. It explains why Ferrari and Porsche have exceptionally high per UBE, which is reflected by high prices and a low number of units produced. The managerial and academic implications of the research and limitations are presented in the end.