Tesla ranked world’s most valuable car brand in 2023

Electric-car pioneer Tesla accelerated to pole position as the world’s most valuable automotive brand in the latest Brand Finance survey.

The brand value of Elon Musk's car company surged by 44% to $66.2bn, (about R1.2-trillion), according to the brand valuation consultancy. That makes Tesla the world’s most valuable car brand for the first time, and the first car brand that doesn’t manufacture internal combustion engines.

Tesla is now worth more than five times its pre-pandemic value, and overtakes last year’s leader, Mercedes-Benz, which dropped 3% in brand value to $58.8bn. The brand value of last year's runner-up, Toyota, fell 18% to $52.5bn

The Brand Finance survey puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test annually, and publishes more than 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries.

Sokon, a subsidiary of the China’s Dongfeng conglomerate that makes electric vehicles is the fastest growing car brand. Its brand value more than doubled to $739m according to the latest data. After a successful 2022 in which sales rose 21% from a year earlier, the brand’s prospects have also increased, helping to boost the brand value further.

Ferrari’s brand value is down 8% to $7.4bn but the Italian company remains the strongest car brand after a good financial performance in 2022. The decline was due to exchange rate fluctuations concerns about its financing requirements.

Burning rubber

Michelin holds the title of most valuable and strongest tyre brand with its value up 2% to $7.9bn, followed by Bridgestone, which fell 1% to $7bn, and Continental (brand value down 3% to $4.1bn.

China’s Sailun is the fastest growing tyre brand with its value up 6% to $7m. In 2022 Sailun released its more sustainable and affordable EcoPoint3 tyres after 10 years of development. The innovation led to widespread media coverage, contributing to Sailun’s brand value growth.

Uber is the most valuable mobility brand in 2023, rising 2% year on year to $23.3bn. That’s three times the value of the second most-valuable mobility brand, Enterprise, which rose 9% to $7.7bn.

Sustainability perceptions

Brand Finance also published a sustainability perceptions value score, and Tesla came out on top in the automotive category with score of 5.43 out of 10, and a value of $17.8bn.

Uber also scored the highest sustainability perception value in the mobility segment, with a ranking of $2.4bn. 

“This growth in brand value is a positive sign for Tesla as it indicates that consumers are recognising and valuing the brand more, which could potentially lead to increased sales and revenue,” said Alex Haigh, Brand Finance’s valuation director.

“The automotive industry is highly competitive, so for Tesla to achieve this level of growth in brand value is a noteworthy accomplishment and a testament to the value of the Tesla brand. Tesla must work to protect this [and] to build long-term brand strength,” Haigh added.