According to Brand Finance, Tesla has been crowned the fastest growing brand in the company’s Global 500 2021 Index, with a ‘brand value’ of a whopping $32.0 billion USD — up 158% in the last year alone.
As explained by Brand Finance, the ‘brand value’ is a meticulously formulated representation of what a brand would fetch if it were licensed on the open market.
In a pandemic-ridden year that was especially hard on vehicle manufacturers, Tesla managed to thrive. During the last year, Tesla reached all-time highs in both stock price and market capitalization. The company’s market cap currently sits at $559.58 billion USD, making it worth as much as the nine largest automakers in the world combined.
More than an automaker, Tesla is a tech company. Innovation in the fields of sustainable technology, Artificial Intelligence in the vehicle space, and design have driven its meteoric rise.
“While Tesla races ahead of the crowd, it has been a difficult year for most traditional car marques in the Brand Finance Global 500 2021 ranking, as 4 in 5 have either depreciated in value or stagnated,” reports the Brand Finance study.
Mercedes-Benz’s brand value dropped the most out of all automakers, down 10%, while Renault (down 10%) and Nissan (down 9%) also saw some of the largest declines in the automobile industry.
As for the world’s most valuable brand? Apple took the crown, overtaking Amazon for the first time in five years.
Tesla’s success through the last year (and on this ranking list) was largely fueled by jaw-dropping sales numbers, increased production, and a well-received and continuously growing expansion into new markets like China.
Last year, the electric vehicle (EV) pioneer also outranked veteran auto manufacturers on the 2020 Interbrands Top 100 Global Brands list.
