Car company brand reputations are precious. Volkswagen found that out the hard way with an emission scandal that started in 2015 and affected over 10 million cars. VW lost billions of dollars, and sales crumbled, particularly in the U.S. On the other hand, Tesla’s reputation for quality and innovation has helped it become the most valuable car company in the world.

The RepTrak Company, which tracks brand reputations, recently released its Global 100. Its focus is on the companies with the best reputations in the world. On a scale of 1 to 100, the average score for the top brands was 74.9, up from 73.1 in 2020.

The group’s methodology is based on several factors:

Seven areas of your business drive your corporate reputation – the perception of your company’s Products & Services, Innovation, Workplace, Governance, Citizenship, Leadership, and Performance.

Among the 13 industries tracked, “Automotive and components” fell near the middle based on grades across all brands considered with an industry average of 73.0. “Consumer durables and apparel” was at the top with a rank across the category of 74.9. “Banks Diversified Financials Insurance” was at the bottom with a grade of 67.0.

Danish toy company LEGO took the top place among all brands. The top car brand was Ferrari, which also ranked third among all 100 brands. Compared to most global manufacturers, Ferrari is a tiny company. The first car with the Ferrari brand was produced in 1947. The company is publicly traded under the ticker symbol “RACE”.  Ferrari sold 9,119 cars last year. In terms of contrast, the world’s largest car company–Volkswagen–sold over 10 million.

Ferrari’s place on the list is all the more extraordinary because it places ahead of The Walt Disney Compay, Microsoft, Google, and Nike.

The next car brand on the RepTrak list is BMW, in 23rd place, followed by Rolls Royce in 27th place, Volvo in 41st place, Tesla in 56th place, Toyota in 66th place, Daimler in 75th place, and Honda in 81st place. Notably, no U.S. car company makes the list.

Is there any lesson from the research? Only that a brand can be highly regarded, even it its sales are small.

Click here to see This Is America’s Slowest Selling Car

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