Japanese and German automotive manufacturers dominate YouGov’s 2022 rankings of the best global brands – as determined by consumers around the globe, in this guest article.

Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer Toyota has come top of YouGov’s Global Automotive and Mobility Rankings 2022.  Global rankings are determined by a brand’s Index score, a measure of overall brand health calculated by taking the average of General Impression, Quality, Value, Customer Satisfaction, Recommendation, and Corporate Reputation scores. They cover 22 markets in all (see below for a full list). We created a shortlist of the top ten brands in each market, creating 220 scoring opportunities in all. Our Automotive and Mobility Rankings 2022 methodology awards ten points for placing first, down to one point for placing tenth in each market. The score shown in the global ranking is the total points accrued by each brand across the 220-slot shortlist.

Toyota placed first with a score of 170 – some way in front of second-ranked Mercedez-Benz (153), and third-placed BMW (123). From here, the places narrow: just five points separate fourth-placed Audi (95) and fellow German automaker Volkswagen (90), with Honda close behind in sixth (88). The table opens up again in seventh place, with Volvo earning 53 points, only to narrow again with eighth-placed Ford (48) and Nissan (44). Lexus rounds out the top ten with 34 points. 



UK

The UK table looks markedly different from the global table. Thanks to strong performance in the Quality and General Impression metrics, Volkswagen comes top with a national score of 21.7 – though it’s a very close-run top three, with Ford (21.5, thanks in part to strong Customer Satisfaction, Value, and Recommend scores) and Mercedez-Benz (21.5, largely due to higher quality and Corporate Reputation scores) both running VW close. Audi placed fourth in the global table, and it placed fourth here, with a score of 19.7, while the worldwide winner Toyota completes the top five with a score of 19.2. 

Germany 

Second-placed in our global tables, Mercedez-Benz claims the joint top berth in Germany with a score of 23.5 – with strong Quality and Corporate Reputation scores playing a part in its better-than-average performance. Audi also scored 23.5 due to solid General Impression and Recommend scores, while BMW earned a score of 22.6 and Volkswagen a score of 20.9 to make an all-German top four. Škoda, the Czech automaker (owned by a German parent company) breaks the trend in fifth place with a score of 15.1.

Spain

The Spanish top five is not dissimilar to the German version, with Mercedez-Benz in first place (32.9) and BMW (30.0) and Audi (29.6) close behind. Mercedez-Benz’s higher Quality, Corporate Reputation, and General Impression scores helped it prevail. Volkswagen (29.1) and Toyota (25.2) complete the top five.

France

As in Germany, France’s tables are topped by a brand of domestic origin. With an Index score of 30.9, Peugeot took first, with constituent scores strongest in the Impression, Recommend, Customer Satisfaction, and Value metrics. Mercedez-Benz placed second (25.7), again thanks to stronger Quality and Corporate Reputation scores, while Audi (24.3), BMW (23.3) and Volkswagen (22.8) both perform comparably to their placings in the global top ten. 

Italy

Once more, Mercedez-Benz takes the top spot in Italy (28.1), and once again it’s thanks to superior performance in the Quality and Corporate Reputation metrics. The top five is dominated by other German brands: BMW comes in second (27.4), Volkswagen third (26.5), and Audi fourth (26.0), with Toyota the lone exception (22.5). Not Italian brand makes the top five. 

Discover the brands that ranked best in your region  

Australia’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Brazil’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Canada’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
China’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Germany’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Denmark’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Spain’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Finland’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
France’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Indonesia’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
India’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Japan’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Mexico’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Malaysia’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Norway’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Saudi Arabia’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Sweden’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Thailand’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
Taiwan’s Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
UK Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022
US Automotive & Mobility Rankings 2022

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