Dunlop’s brand value shrank three-times faster than Sailun Tire’s grew

While Michelin was found to the be most valuable tyre brand, as we previewed a month ago, the 2023 Brand Finance data also shows Michelin is the strongest brand with a Brand Strength Index score of 88.1 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA rating. However, there were also significant shifts between 10^th and 15^th place in the ranking of the world’s leading tyre brands. Specifically, Sailun leapfrogged Linglong into 11^th place in the “most valuable” category. And MRF rose two places from 15^th to 13^th this year. Meanwhile, Dunlop’s brand value shrank three-times faster than Sailun Tire’s grew.

But it is also worth saying more about Sailun’s position as the fastest-growing Tyres brand this year. Not only is Sailun’s brand value growing faster than any other in the top 15 tyre brands with a US$0.7 billion value that puts it on a par with Linglong, Michelin and Cooper (and not far behind 10^th-placed Giti), it is also growing twice as fast as the next-best brand.

Specifically, Sailun’s brand value grew 6 per cent compared with 2022. The second-fast-growing tyre brand on the Brand Finance rankings ranking was MRF, which grew 3 per cent. The third-fastest growing was Michelin (up 2 per cent since last year). And the Pirelli brand remains in good shape, with its brand value up 1 per cent compared with 2022.

However, at the other of the spectrum well-known brands Dunlop and Hankook will no doubt be disappointed to learn that they are the two fastest fallers respectively. For its part, Dunlop’s brand value fell three times faster than Sailun’s grew, down 18 per cent during the last year. Hankook was the second-fastest faller, down 14 per cent. Apollo’s brand value contracted 6 per cent in the 12 months since the last ranking in 2022. And Continental’s brand value went down 3 per cent.

Dunlop’s sharp contract is bad news for Goodyear, which was down 2 per cent, because Cooper was also down 3 per cent. In other words, all three of Goodyear’s best-known brands shrank by between 2 and 18 per cent during the last 12 months.

In the middle of the table, Hankook’s loss could be Yokohama’s gain. Indeed, with just $0.1 billion between 7^th-placed Hankook and 8^th-placed Yokohama, if Hankook doesn’t stem its loss enough or if turns its moderate loss in terms of brand value into growth during the next year, Yokohama could take over 7^th place from Hankook.

MRF remains world’s second-strongest brand

Michelin also retained pole position in terms of Brand Finance’s “Strongest Tyre Brands” ranking. Similarly, MRF retained second-position according to that metric, having seized that position from Bridgestone in 2022. MRF’s 2023 score of 83.2 is 2.3 points less than last year, but it there is still a buffer between it and third-placed Goodyear, which is scored at 80.8. It is now the second year running that MRF has been the sole tyre manufacturer outside the world’s top five in terms of turnover to have its brand strength ranked in silver-medal position.

Sustainability ranking highlights relative strengths of tyremakers

For its part, Michelin has reportedly maintained its strong overall position due to “high brand equity”, something that has “partly enabled it to remain resilient to difficult macroeconomic challenges”, according to the Brand Finance report, which added:

“The brand’s diverse offering of tyres for a multitude of vehicles, and large global presence, have allowed it to remain as a reliable choice for tyres across its markets.”

However, Michelin’s forward-thinking approach to sustainability also appears to be helping the company’s brand continue to move forward.

As part of its analysis, Brand Finance assesses how sustainable specific brands are perceived to be, represented by a ‘Sustainability Perceptions Score’. The value that is linked to sustainability perceptions, the ‘Sustainability Perceptions Value’, is then calculated for each brand.

As well as being the most valuable and strongest Tyres brand, Michelin also has the highest Sustainability Perception Value in the ranking at US$255 million.

According to Brand Finance, it is important to note that Michelin’s position at the top of the table is not an assessment of its overall sustainability performance. Rather, it highlights the value that Michelin has tied up in the sustainability perception of stakeholders. Michelin does however also have a strong Sustainability Perception Score of 5.08, higher than both its key competitors Bridgestone and Continental.

Similarly, Bridgestone retained second place in the 2023 Brand Finance Sustainability Perceptions Value ranking, coming in at $215 million and a corresponding sustainability perceptions score of 4.83.

There is then clear water of $98 million between second and third-placed Continental, which achieved a Sustainability Perceptions Value ranking of $117 million.

Pirelli, Hankook, Yokohama and Toyo will also be pleased to learn that they came in one place higher each in the sustainability category than they did in the overall ranking.

Again, MRF will be particularly pleased to find that its brand was ranked 9^th, four places higher than its 13^th placed overall position.

Indeed, the sustainability data suggests that overall brand value isn’t enough to maximise the benefits of brand. Rather the strength and sustainability positioning of brands are increasingly differentiating between brands.