An annual ranking of the world’s top brands by Millward Brown shows Toyota has overtaken BMW as the most valuable global car brand due to the new models introduced in the hybrid market.

Sales breakdown

The study revealed Toyota’s 2013 brand value rose 12% to $24.5 billion largely because of its significant inroads in the hybrid market, in contrast BMW’s brand value dropped by 2% to $24 billion. This was due to the European slowdown which impacted BMW’s earnings and was in part responsible for the swap at the top of the rankings.

Toyota was also the most popular car brand for 2012 in South Africa with a total of 112 215 units sold. This year, the brand has maintained the number one spot for the past three months, March being its highest with a total market share of 21.9%.

BMW faired reasonably well in 2012 and ranked in 7th place for total new vehicle sales in South Africa for 2012 with 26 446 vehicles sold between January and November 2012. However, the brand is not slowing down as it posted reasonable sales for the month of February 2013, with a total market share of 5.2%.

Furthermore, the study showed that German premium brands such as Mercedes Benz increased by 11% in value. Audi also saw its brand value rise 18% to $5.5 billion.

The brand value of the Top 10 brands improved 5% in the 2013 BrandZ ranking compared with a 7% decline last year. Brand value remained at only 71 percent of its pre-recession level.

Here are the world’s most valuable car brands in $billion rank according to BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study released by market research company Millward Brown.

Top 10 car brands worldwide

Source: Millward Brown