Hyundai Motor Company’s Global Brand Value Hits ‘$25 Billion’ ... Ranks No. 4 in Automotive

[Financial News] Hyundai Motor Company ranked 29th overall in Interbrand’s “2026 Global 100 Brands,” recording a brand value of $25 billion.
On the 28th, Hyundai announced the results, saying it had entered the top 20 overall for the first time since its founding and ranked fourth among automotive brands, up two places from the previous year.
Interbrand evaluates the value of major brands around the world each year and selects the 100 best global brands. Hyundai first made the list in 2005 and has increased its brand value for 17 consecutive years, from 2010 through this year. The company said this was an achievement at a time when other automakers’ brand values were falling amid slowing performance.
An Interbrand representative said, “Hyundai has strengthened its brand’s distinctiveness and trust by demonstrating tangible competitiveness in future mobility technologies, including robotics and electrification. These achievements, combined with a solid brand foundation in major markets such as the United States and Europe, became a key driver of the rise in brand value.”
Last year, Hyundai recorded a record-high performance, with revenue of ₩186.2545 trillion. On the strength of its expanded hybrid lineup, it surpassed both annual sales of 1 million vehicles in the U.S. market and global sales of 960,000 eco-friendly vehicles.
Product accolades continued as well. The electrified flagship SUV, the Hyundai Ioniq 9, won the Best Large SUV award at the 2026 Women’s World Car of the Year (WWCOTY). The Hyundai Palisade ranked first among finalists in the utility category of the 2026 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY). The Hyundai Tucson Hybrid led the expansion of global hybrid sales in 2025 and contributed to record quarterly hybrid sales in the first quarter of 2026. The All-New Hyundai Tucson, unveiled last September, is equipped with a next-generation hybrid system.
Hyundai is also accelerating efforts to secure future growth drivers, including physical AI and robotics. Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its human-centered AI robotics ecosystem strategy, mid- to long-term commercialization plans and technology demonstrations at CES 2026 this past January. Hyundai said that, on the back of these developments, its market capitalization surpassed ₩100 trillion for the first time.
Meanwhile, the humanoid robot Atlas has begun training at the Robot Metaplant Application Center (RMAC) inside Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia, U.S. Preparations are underway for Atlas to be deployed at HMGMA in 2028. Atlas won the Best Robot award at CNET’s “Best of CES 2026,” while MobED, an autonomous mobility robot platform, received the Best of Innovation Award in the robotics category at CES 2026 and a main award in the Product Design category at the Red Dot Design Award. Hyundai is also accelerating its transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) by strengthening its strategic partnership with NVIDIA and developing Pleos, a mobility software brand and technology platform.
Hyundai has maintained its partnership with FIFA since 1999, now in its 27th year. For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it provided the largest number of official vehicles in the tournament’s history and rolled out its “Next Starts Now” brand campaign. It has returned as a top-tier Premier Partner of the International Cricket Council (ICC), targeting cricket fans in India and other markets, and is also an official sponsor of South America’s Copa Libertadores.
The “Coquí Alarmed” campaign, developed by Hyundai Motor Puerto Rico, won the Grand Prix in the Audio & Radio category at Cannes Lions 2026. The marine forest conservation campaign “Forests Without Names” won a Bronze Lion in the Creative Data category.
Hyundai Motor Company President and CEO José Muñoz said, “Seventeen consecutive years of growth in brand value are a shared achievement of the customers who have chosen Hyundai and the employees and dealer partners who have built that trust. Our rise to fourth place among automotive brands demonstrates not only the competitiveness of our products today, but also our strength in future technologies such as software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and physical AI.”
[email protected] Kim Dong-chan Reporter