New Brand Finance data shows the sector’s collective brand value stands at $575.4 billion
SEOUL, 23 April 2026 – South Korea's two automotive giants present a study in contrasting fortunes this year as Hyundai and Kia navigate the dual pressures of a softening global market and an uneven transition to electrification, according to the Automotive Industry 2026 report from Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy.
Hyundai (brand value down 6% to USD24.8 billion) retained its eighth position globally among the sector’s 100 most valuable brands, underpinned by a flexible powertrain strategy that continued to resonate with consumers. Global retail sales grew 2% to over 4 million units in 2025, with North America emerging as the strongest performing region, recording an 8% increase year on year. Hyundai Hybrid sales surged 32% globally, reflecting the brand's ability to meet consumers across different stages of electrification readiness. Operating profit, however, came under pressure from tariff impacts and higher incentive costs, limiting stronger brand value growth.
Kia (brand value down 11% to USD10.4 billion) faced a sharper decline, with a weakening Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 71.2/100 from 75.3/100 in 2025. The brand achieved record US sales in 2025 and strengthened its position in Europe through volume EV growth, supported by strong demand for the Sportage, Telluride, and Carnival hybrid. However, heightened price sensitivity and lingering reliability perceptions in the UK and US weighed on brand strength metrics, representing the key challenge Kia must address to fully capitalise on its increasingly competitive product portfolio.
The global automobile sector recorded consecutive declines, falling 1% in 2025 and a further 7% in 2026, with total brand value now standing at USD575.4 billion. Despite this broader slowdown, Toyota (brand value down 3% to USD62.7 billion) retains its position as both the most valuable and strongest automobile brand globally for the second consecutive year. With a BSI score of 92.5/100 and an AAA+ rating, Toyota continues to benefit from high visibility, strong familiarity, and a reputation for reliability across key markets including Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and Australia.
Alex Haigh, Global Sector Head of Automotive Industries, Brand Finance, commented:
“South Korea's automotive brands have built genuinely world-class products, and the sales numbers reflect that. But brand value is not just about what you sell, it is about how consumers perceive you across every market you operate in. Hyundai's flexible powertrain strategy is a blueprint for navigating this transition period, while Kia's challenge is to ensure its commercial momentum translates into stronger brand perceptions, particularly in the UK and US where consumer expectations around reliability and value are unforgiving.”
Beyond vehicle manufacturers, Brand Finance has also released new insights into the auto components sector, where Hyundai Mobis (brand value up 5% to USD6.6 billion) ranked second, benefiting from deep integration with Hyundai-Kia’s global platforms, which secured sustained volumes across ICE, hybrid, and EV programmes. This balanced drivetrain exposure helped cushion revenue volatility and reinforced the brand’s strategic importance to its core OEM customer base amid cautious industry investment.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
