According to Brand Finance, Michelin is considered to be “the most valuable” international tyre brand. The company focusing on brand assessment and strategy consultation communicates a 30-per-cent brand increase, reaching about 7.9 billion US dollars next year. Thus, Michelin will be able to overtake Bridgestone (7.0 billion US dollars). Continental will be in the third position of the Brand Finance top ten ranking.
Michelin is supposed to be not only “the most valuable” but also “the strongest” brand. Alex Haigh, Director at Brand Finance, comments: “A strong brand is more important for marketing. Michelin gave up direct tyre sales to customers via retailers and started selling on the Internet. As a consequence, it is easier to build a direct relationship with consumers and the company is able to collect valuable data. Moreover, its sub-brand portfolio is increased and at the same time, it is possible to sell competitively priced tyres and premium tyres without loosing any market shares.
Apart from Bridgestone, the other Japanese players, Yokohama (-18 per cent) and Sumitomo Rubber Industries (-62 per cent), lost importance too, judges Brand Finance. The brand assessors position the Chinese tyre manufacturers, Linglong Tire, Sailun Jinyu and Changchun Faway, shortly ahead of entering the top ten because of their current brand growth.
(kle)
