The Hyundai brand continues its upward march by ranking 69th, up three notches from 2008, in the 2009 Best Global Brands survey jointly conducted by Interbrand, a leading consultancy in branding, and BusinessWeek, the New York-based global business media organization.
While the average brand value for automotive industries declined by 7.4 percent amid the global economic downturn, Hyundai saw a milder decline of five percent at $4.6 billion, the smallest drop among automobile companies.
Thanks to eye-catching products like Genesis and innovative marketing such as the Assurance program, Hyundai is making a big splash in the world market, Interbrand said.
Hyundai made its debut on the annual Best Global Brands list in 2005 in 84th place. Since then, Hyundai has registered steady annual growth in its brand value as measured on a global basis. In the latest survey, Hyundai ranked 8th overall among global automakers, surpassing several prominent competitor brands including Porsche, Lexus and Nissan.
The automaker has witnessed a rapid rise on the global stage thanks to continuous quality improvements and design of its vehicles. Managements globalization efforts have greatly contributed to Hyundais rapid rise by establishing a manufacturing foothold in the key emerging markets of India and China where Hyundai has enjoyed early success.
Interbrand (www.interbrand.com), the leading brand consultancy and authors of the annual ranking of The Best Global Brands in partnership with BusinessWeek was founded in 1974. Interbrand has offices in over 30 cities in more than 20 countries around the globe and clients from among the most respected businesses.
BusinessWeek is a leading global business media organization which was founded in 1929 and is published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek has more than 4.8 million readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Russian, and Bahasa Indonesian.