Toyota tops eleven automakers named to BusinessWeek Top 100

New York, New York – The Toyota Motor Corporation ranked highest among eleven automakers named on BusinessWeek’s 2006 Top 100 Global Brands Scoreboard, released this week. The magazine annually ranks the top 100 global brands that have a value greater than US$1 billion and derive 20 per cent or more of sales from outside their home country.

The top three companies on the list were Coca-Cola, Microsoft and IBM. The automakers cited were Toyota (number 7, up from 9th in 2005), Mercedes-Benz (#10, up from 11), BMW (#15, up from 16), Honda (#19, unchanged from 2005), Ford (#30, down from 22), Volkswagen (#56, unchanged) Audi (#74, up from 79), Hyundai (#75, up from 84), Porsche (#80, down from 76), Nissan (#90, down from 85) and Lexus (#92, not on 2005 list).

Other vehicle-related companies on the list were Harley-Davidson (#45, up from 46), Caterpillar (#68, up from 70) and Shell (#89, up from 90).