The top 10 car brands in Asia-Pacific

More than the other categories we've covered in this ongoing series of top 10 lists based on our Asia's Top 1000 Brands research, cars are an aspirational product.

The methodology of our survey, done in partnership with Nielsen IQ, asks people to name the "best" brand in a given category. And while most people who name, say, Oreo, as the best biscuit/cookie brand are also likely to buy and eat Oreos, the same is not true of BMW or Porsche or Ferrari. OK, no one is eating Ferraris, but you get the point: Many of the automakers on our list of Asia's top 10 car brands are here not because they're top sellers (you can look elsewhere for that list), but because they have built reputations for excellence in engineering.

All of the above makes it even more impressive to see the mass-market auto brands that have managed to secure a place on the list, alongside the pricey German brands, one Italian supercar maker and one hand-tailored brand for the ultra-wealthy. 

The following facts about Asia's favourite car brands are derived from the 2021 edition of Campaign Asia-Pacific's exclusive Asia's Top 1000 Brands research, done in partnership with Nielsen IQ. The region's most comprehensive research on consumer brand perception, Asia's Top 1000 Brands asks consumers in 14 Asia-Pacific markets to name the brands they consider the best in 15 major product and service categories. From this, we compile the overall Asia's Top 1000 Brands ranking, a list of the top 100 brands in each market, and a variety of features and category-based reports like this one.

Without further ado...

ASIA's TOP 10 CAR BRANDS

CAR-NAL KNOWLEDGE
Start your engines and rev up your automotive intelligence with these additional fast facts.

Falling behind - Two brands in 2020's top 10 fell into the second tier:

• Ford, from 10th to 11th
• Nissan, from ninth to 12th

Specific markets where Toyota is the No. 1 brand:

• Australia
• Indonesia
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Vietnam

Other market-specific No. 1 brands:

• BMW (China, Hong Kong)
• Honda (Malaysia)
• Hyundai (South Korea)
• Mercedes-Benz (Singapore)
• Tata (India)

Market-specific No. 2 brands:

• Audi (China)
• BMW (India, Singapore)
• Honda (Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam)
• Mazda (Australia, New Zealand)
• Mercedes-Banz (Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan)
• Toyota (Malaysia)

Where's Tesla? Despite all the press it gets, the brand ranks 16th on a regional basis and only cracks the top 10 in four markets:

• Hong Kong (No. 5)
• New Zealand (No. 7)
• South Korea (No. 7)
• Taiwan (No. 4) 

Singular appeal - Brands that crack the top 10 in only one market:

• Hongqi (No. 9 in China)
• Kia (No. 3 in South Korea)
• Mahindra & Mahindra (No. 9 in India)
• Maruti (No. 7 in India)
• Tata (No. 1 in India)

Brands 11-20 across the region (alphabetical order):

• Ford
• Kia
• Lexus
• Maruti
• Mazda
• Mitsubishi
• Nissan
• Tata
• Tesla
• Volvo  

BONUS -  THE REGION's TOP 10 MOTORCYCLE BRANDS

BONUS 2 - THE REGION's TOP 10 TIRE/TYRE BRANDS