NEW YORK-Goodyear owns one of the ``best-managed'' and most-valuable brand names in the world, according to Financial World magazine's fourth annual tradename valuation and ranking. In addition, three of the five tire brands that the magazine considered in its ranking placed within the top 50 brands in the world based on estimated value.
By comparing brand value with an estimated industry average, Financial World determined the Goodyear name is the 20th best-managed brand. Brands that performed particularly well vs. their industry average made the list.
None of the tire brands considered were placed on the list of ``underutilized'' brands, denoting trade names that performed particularly poorly compared to the rest of their respective industries.
Based solely on estimated monetary value, the Goodyear brand ranked 24th-among 282 trade names considered-with a value of $4.66 billion; the Bridgestone brand, 32nd at $3.76 billion; the Michelin brand, 49th at $2.66 billion; the Pirelli brand, 197th at $299 million; and the Continental brand, 225th at $179 million.
For comparison, Coca-Cola topped the magazine's list with a brand value of $39.1 billion.
The magazine did not compute brand values or rank any other tire brands, notably Firestone, which is also owned by Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., and General, which is owned by Continental General Tire.
The four trailing tire companies are catching up with Goodyear, according to the rankings, with each showing a larger percentage change over last year's values.
Goodyear increased its value 4 percent over last year, BFS rose 7 percent, Michelin, 41 percent, Pirelli 65 percent, and Continental, 30 percent.
In calculating the valuations of the brands, the magazine developed a model resembling one used by London-based Interbrand, a company that evaluates brands. The valuations are roughly based on each product's worldwide sales, profitability and growth potential, the magazine said.