ALREADY one of the most popular brands of car in Saudi Arabia, Toyota has been named the most valuable automobile brand in the BrandZ Top 100 rankings compiled for the tenth year in a row by Millward Brown, one of the world's top branding consultants. Despite tough competition, the Japanese carmaker still leads the list for the eighth time in the ten-year history of the ranking. “These rankings are very important because consumer perception is a driving force in determining brand value and direction,” said Dr. Adel Ezzat, Managing Director of Marketing at Abdul Latif Jameel. “We believe brands are a combination of business performance, product delivery, clarity of positioning and leadership, today's announcement by Millward Brown provides a solid evidence to Toyota's overall rewarding position,” he said. Toyota is not only one of the most trusted automobile brands in Saudi Arabia, but also seen to offer the most stable, long-term quality and resale value of any car in the market, a significant factor in consumer attitudes. Japanese giant has recently celebrated 60 years of presence in the Kingdom, showcased an exemplary relationship model that brings together with great harmony: the brand, the dealership and the consumer. Toyota's position at the top of the BrandZ Rankings is highly valuable as, according to the report, brand building in the automobile industry is becoming increasingly difficult. Worldwide, millennials and new age customers are showing less interest in car ownership and related technology and these trends, along with increasing online sales of cars, all have collided to make automobile branding more complicated worldwide. However, quality and durability seem to have always stayed in Toyota's list of production priorities. It's reported that each Toyota model is tested by traveling two and a half times around the world or 14 times around Saudi Arabia before it goes into mass production. The Toyota vehicle-testing program recreates global temperatures and geographical conditions to ensure car performs at its best to fit the conditions in different markets. The distinguished relationship between Toyota and Abdul Latif Jameel goes back more than 50 years, during which the company grew to become one of the leading automotive concerns in the Kingdom, and one of the world's largest independent Toyota distributors in the world. — SG
