Michelin again named top tire brand by Brand Finance

FRANKFURT, Germany — It's seventh heaven for the world's top selling tire brand.

For the seventh straight year, the Michelin brand has been named the world's most valuable and strongest tire brand by Brand Finance, a London-based independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear and Dunlop — a brand shared by Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. — round out the top five.

The announcement was made June 5 at Tire Cologne show, which continues through June 6.Brand Finance pegged Michelin's brand value at $7.87 billion, saying the value has remained stable year-on-year. The research firm attributed that to several market and performance factors, "including declining sales within the road transportation segment and reduced replacement market unit sales."

In addition, Brand Finance scored Michelin as 85.6 out of 100 in Brand Strength Index (BSI), the top score in the segment. Michelin's BSI score dropped 2.5 points, Brand Finance said, mainly because of a drop in forecasted revenue.

Brand Finance said its research showed that Michelin excels in the categories of Familiarity and Recommendation, and in France, receives the highest price acceptance.

Brand Finance lauded Michelin and other top brands, such as Bridgestone and Goodyear, for their innovation, particularly their development of airless tire technology.

Benefits of this technology, Brand Finance said, include eliminating flats and punctures and preventing tires from becoming waste before their expected lifespan.

Michelin is among a select group of brands that have been repeat winners in their sectors. Those brands include Starbucks (No. 1 ranking in restaurants since 2017); Nike (No. 1 in apparel since 2015); and Lego (No. 1 in toys since 2015).

Brand Finance said it assesses brands' strength through a "balanced scorecard of metrics" evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance. The company said its evaluation of stakeholder equity includes original market research data, compliant with ISO 20671, from more than 150,000 respondents in 41 countries across 31 sectors.

Among some of the other findings of the survey:

• The top nine tire brands retained their 2023 ranking;
• Giti was designated as the fastest-growing brand, increasing an industry-best 19% in brand value;
• Chinese tire brands Sailun, Linglong and Sentury have had double-digit surges in brand value.

Brand Finance said the Bridgestone brand is valued at $7.62 billion, up 8% from 2023. Continental was third, valued at $4.66 billion, a 13% increase, while Goodyear was fourth, with a value of $1.99 billion, an 11% decrease. Brand Finance did not provide a reason for the decline.

Dunlop — whose North American and European brand rights are being offered for sale by Goodyear — is valued at $1.98 billion, a decrease of 2%.

Brand Finance said Bridgestone, like other manufacturers, has faced challenges because of an increase in raw material prices and inflation. The Japanese-based tire maker has taken "robust measures," Brand Finance said, to offset those issues via flexible supply management.

Brand Finance said Continental has improved in several categories, including familiarity, consideration, and reputation, as its BSI score jumped to 79.1 out of 100, a 3.2-point year-over-year increase. Brand Finance said Conti was buoyed by the success of its UltraContact NXT sustainable tire, manufactured with up to 65% recycled and renewable material.

The rest of the top 10 are:

• Pirelli, $1.74 billion (up 15%);
• Hankook, $1.36 billion (up 8%);
• Yokohama, $1.21 billion (up 4%);
• Giti, $924 million (up 19%); and
• Toyo, $886 million (down 1%).

They are followed by Sailun at $801 million (up 10%); Linglong, $799 million (up 11%); MRF, $606 million (down 9%); Cooper (a Goodyear brand), $562 million (down 14%); and Apollo, $557 (down 14%)

Brand Finance said substantial overseas demand for Chinese tires fueled the surge for Giti, Sailun, Linglong and Sentury.

Brand Finance said solid revenue growth forecasts, particularly in the Chinese market, bolstered Giti, which also gained a 6.3 increase in its BSI score.

Giti has performed strongly in China, Brand Finance said, with it being its largest market by revenue. The consultancy's research shows Giti had a high recommendation score in China, reflecting high customer satisfaction. Familiarity and consideration are also high there, Brand Finance said, with Giti achieving market recognition and acceptance in the country.

According to Brand Finance, the Chinese tire industry prospered in 2023,with the expansion of overseas operations, high demand and good domestic conditions for development.

High inflation in Europe and America have given Chinese tires "a significant cost-effectiveness advantage," Brand Finance said, spurring an increase in export. Brand Finance said China's car exports have surpassed Japan's for the world's top spot. That, in turn, bolsters the market share for Chinese tires overseas.

"In a landscape where global tire giants face challenges, the success of Chinese brands shines brightly," Alex Haigh, managing director, Brand Finance Asia, said. "Their remarkable growth amid adversity underscores the resilience and dynamism of the Chinese tire industry."

He credited Giti's focus on sustainability for boosting its brand, while Linglong, Sentury and Sailun "are expanding their global footprint, leveraging cost-effectiveness to secure significant market share. As inflation grips traditional markets, the ascent of these Chinese brands heralds a new era of competition and opportunity in the global tire market."

Falken is No. 16, followed by Nexen; Sentury; JK Tyre; Kumho; Ceat; CST (a Maxxis International brand); Kenda; Nokian; and Triangle.

Of those, Nexen (16% to $442 million); Sentury (17% to $377 million); and Triangle (15% to $229 million) jumped double digits in value.

Brand Finance also ranks brands based on its Sustainability Perceptions Value (SPV) metric. The consultancy said it analyzes how brands are perceived in regards to sustainability.

Michelin emerged with the highest SPV at $362 million. Brand Finance said the SPV ranking "does not assess (a brand's) overall sustainability performance but rather indicates how much brand value is tied to sustainability perceptions."

Brand Finance's research found Michelin to demonstrate above-average sustainability performance across environmental, social and governance categories.

Michelin also has the highest Gap Value, which represents the difference between perceived sustainability and actual sustainability performance. Brand Finance said a positive value indicates that a brand's sustainability performance is better than its perceptions suggest.

Brand Finance said businesses could add more value for shareholders by communicating sustainability achievements more effectively.

Michelin's SPV ranking is $27 million.

Brand Finance conducts market research annually on more than 6,000 brands, across 41 countries, in 31 sectors, with more than 150,000 respondents. In the tire sector, Brand Finance conducts market research for 40 tire brands, in these countries: France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, U.S, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.