Toyota Is the World's Most Valuable Auto Brand, Tesla Drops From Top 20 Due to Elon Musk

Leading brand valuation consultancy firm Brand Finance has a tradition – every year, its team of dedicated experts puts 5k of the biggest brands to the test, then publishes over 100 reports to specifically rank brands across all sectors and countries. However, their most important study is always the annual Brand Finance Global 500 ranking, where we will find "the world's top 500 most valuable and strongest global brands."

Two years ago, the Tesla 'marvel kid' of the automotive industry jumped 19 spots, overshooting Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, and became one of the world's top ten most valuable brands in Brand Finance's 2023 World's Most Valuable Brands rankings. Well, the miracle didn't last too long – this year's Brand Finance Global 500 ranking puts Tesla back in its place, dropping to the 36th spot overall. The explanation, according to the study's authors, is pretty simple.

While Toyota kept a steady pace and surged from 21 to 18, Tesla continued its steep decline after 2023, making it into the top 10 in the ninth position. Back in 2024, it was sent from the ninth to 18th position and now again doubles the fall to 36th overall! That's because of its large exposure to the Chinese EV market, BYD overtaking Tesla as the world's largest EV maker, and the fact that Elon Musk continues to be an increasingly controversial leadership figure, and his close association with the brand has continuously hurt Tesla's reputation.

As far as the 2025 most valuable automotive brands are concerned, after Toyota (18th place) comes to Mercedes-Benz (23, down from 17), the Hyundai Group (29, up from 41), Tesla at 36, followed by BMW AG stagnating at 37, as well as Porsche remaining in the final position of the top 40 after dropping from 33rd. Others include Volkswagen (61), Honda (70), and Ford (86), which are among the first 100 most valuable brands.

Elsewhere, all of the world's 500 most valuable brands grew ten percent to a valuation of no less than $9.5 trillion in 2025, outpacing the rise of the global economic growth of three percent. The top position, once again, is occupied by Apple – evaluated at $574.5 billion for 2025, followed by Microsoft, valued at $461 billion, and Google, at $413 billion. The top five are completed with Amazon ($356.4 billion) and Walmart ($137.2 billion).

As far as country rankings are concerned, America leads the charge from afar, with Apple on top and no less than 193 brands in the top 500, followed by China and Germany with just 69 and 27 brands, respectively.