Bridgestone halves gap with Michelin in 2021 Brand Finance Global 500

Brand Finance normally releases its tyre brand ranking in March, but the analysts’ list of the top 500 brands in the world gives us a preview of what we will see in roughly a month’s time. Published at the end of January 2021, the latest Brand Finance report ranks companies according to their brand’s strength and monetary value. Michelin and Bridgestone are the only two tyre brands in the top 500 and it is clear that the competition between the two continues to heat up.

Last year’s brand finance report put Michelin in 280th place globally, with Bridgestone 10 places lower, ranked as the 290th most valuable brand in the world. The 2021 ranking, however, puts Michelin in 270th position (up one place) and Bridgestone in 285th (up five places). In other words, Bridgestone has roughly halved the gap between itself and first-placed Michelin. And while Michelin continues to climb according to this metric, Bridgestone is improving five times faster. Therefore, if both companies continue at the same rate, this time next year, Bridgestone could overtake Michelin in terms of Brand Finance’s brand value calculation.