The world's largest car brand doesn't believe electric cars will gain more than 30 percent of the global car market. Yet Toyota remains in first place.
Toyota isn't ready to throw everything overboard for the sake of electric cars, yet the Japanese car brand is holding on to its place as the world's most valuable car brand.
This is shown by a new analysis from Brand Finance.
The English consulting firm has calculated that Toyota is worth $66 billion, while Mercedes is close behind with a valuation of $53 billion.
Tesla is only worth $43 billion, says Brand Finance. And that's actually less than the Hyundai group, which also includes Kia.
According to the English, the lower valuation of the American brand is due, among other things, to the brand's director, Elon Musk.
– There are many who think he is wonderful. But there are also many who think the opposite.
"If you're buying an electric car, Musk's persona is probably the deciding factor in whether you'll buy one of his cars. But that's just one of many factors (on which the analysis is based, ed.)," Brand Finance director David Haigh told CNBC .
Back at Toyota, the Japanese can note that according to Brand Finance, they are the 18th most valuable company in the world. In comparison, Ferrari is only the 167th most valuable. Even though the people from the Maranello factory are the ones who earn the most per car.
The most valuable company in 2024 was Apple, followed closely by Microsoft and Google. Toyota has not commented on the story of its market value. On the other hand, the Japanese insist that electric cars are not the only way forward.
“The silent majority is wondering whether electric cars are really the only option. But they think it's the trend, so they can't speak out,” said chairman and former director Akio Toyoda as recently as last year.
However, the Japanese are not completely blameless either. It has just been revealed that the group must pay a gigantic fine of 11.6 billion for years of cheating with diesel engines.
