Haval ranking high in distinguished company

Chinese carmaker Haval has placed itself among titans of the automotive industry.

In the Brand Finance Auto 100 report, listing the most valuable global automakers, Haval is celebrating its 16th ranking above Ferrari, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Tesla.

Haval’s brand value has reached a ranking of 249 among the Global 500, and is the highest ranked Chinese automotive company.

Haval has managed to turn its brand value around, increasing 124% from 2017-2018 to a US$6.8 billion value, joining top-performing Aston Martin (up 244%) and all-electric Chinese competitor BYD which has changed its brand value 211%. Tesla has also improved 106% in the same period, going from 30th to 19th most valued brand.

Rival Chinese automaker SAIC Motor ranks fifth most valuable portfolio at US$24.5 billion in 2018, closing in on the BMW Group in fourth (US$46.2b), Toyota on US$52.8, Daimler on US$54.6 and the Volkswagen Group at number one on US$75.7 billion.

SAIC Motor’s portfolio, in descending order, beats Honda, Nissan Motor Corporation, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Haval Australia New Zealand national marketing manager Bill So says the brand may be small in Australia and New Zealand, but big things are coming.

“Haval is already more valuable than many established automotive brands and the entry into the Global 500 confirms that the Haval brand is moving and moving fast,” he says.

In the top 100 most valuable automotive brands, Mercedes-Benz is the top brand with a US $43.9 billion 24% higher than 2017 when it ranks third, and higher than 2017’s number one brand Toyota which sits in second at $43.7 billion.

BMW has dropped from second last year to third in 2018 at US$41.7b (up 6%), ahead of Volkswagen in fourth (US$33.6b, up 35%), Honda in fifth (US$22.1b, up 4%), Porsche in seventh (up 45%), Ford in eighth (down 23%), Audi in ninth (up 19%) and Chevrolet rounding out the ten (up 11%) as it did in 2017.

Automotive brands lag significantly behind tech giant Apple at US$146.3 billion and Amazon which is the Global 500 top brand on US$150.8 billion – a 42% year-on-year increase.

The automotive sector ranks fifth in total global brand values on US$347.5 billion contributing 6%, behind retail, telecommunications, banks and technology at the top with an eye-watering US$1.35 trillion value.

Brand Finance chief executive David Haigh says the globe’s top automotive brand has come full circle.

“Mercedes-Benz invented the automobile, and is now leading the industry with a brand strategy focused on re-inventing the automobile,” he says.

“Their success has been driven by the introduction of a new generation of vehicles led by their renewed foray into SUVs and smooth evolution of new technologies to move away from traditional internal combustion engines,” Haigh adds.