Bennett Oghifo
Hyundai Motor is the world’s 35th biggest brand according to the latest rankings published by global brand specialists Interbrand, overtaking four other renowned brands in the past year.
Despite yet another challenging year for the automotive industry, Hyundai Motor’s global brand value increased 11.1% to reach $12.55bn, securing its place among the biggest brands on the planet. The Korean company also moved up one place to 6th in the global automotive industry top 10 brands and is the 4th most valuable high-volume automotive brand.
Hyundai Motor maintained global sales at five million units, helped by successful launches of its Creta, Sonata and Tucson models, while reinforcing its Modern Premium brand philosophy through increased differentiation between the Hyundai and Genesis brand identities. The Hyundai Motor brand is set to achieve even greater heights with electrified IONIQ models, high-performance Hyundai N cars and future-mobility focused Project IONIQ moving the brand into new automotive spaces.
Wonhong Cho, Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor Company, said: “The car-ownership model may become obsolete within a matter of years, therefore we simply can’t limit our vision to eco-friendly vehicles. To maintain our rate of growth as a global brand we must rethink the traditional business model and not just see ourselves as a transportation company, but also a mobility service provider. With Project IONIQ we will address this new paradigm and further Hyundai Motor’s standing as one of the world’s most valuable brands.”
Acknowledging the achievement, Mike Rocha, Global Director of Brand Valuation at Interbrand said: “Over the past year, Hyundai has once again redefined its limits by introducing IONIQ to gain leadership in future mobility, by spinning off the Genesis brand to enhance clarity for each brand’s identity and by providing innovative experiences such as Hyundai Motorstudio Digital. We look forward to another year of growth for Hyundai as one of the forerunners of future mobility.”
Expanding the brand’s reach further, Hyundai Motor’s high performance sub-brand ‘N’ was launched in September 2015, with an aim to bring intuitive, high-performance, fun to drive vehicles to a broad range of customers. The RM16, Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo, and RN30 concepts revealed in 2016 are inspired by the brand’s passion for performance and will evolve into the first Hyundai N model.
“The latest Interbrand ranking shows Hyundai’s enormous success in the past decade, consistently rising both in the value of the brand and in our ranking against other major companies across many sectors,” said Mike Song, Hyundai’s Head of Operations for Africa and the Middle East. “The value that Interbrand places on the Hyundai name reflects the fundamental strength and stability of Hyundai as a company, and the high levels of trust placed in us by consumers worldwide.”
Interbrand’s rankings are calculated using companies’ financial balance sheets combined with marketing activities, while also reflecting each brand’s potential profit.
