The 10 Most Powerful Car Brands Today

CoreBrand, a New York based brand strategy firm, has released its latest list of the 100 most powerful brands in the world. As expected, the automotive industry features prominently, but none were able to crack the top 15.

CoreBrand's research tracks what they refer to as "BrandPower," a measure of the size and quality of a company's brand name. To compile the rankings, CoreBrand surveyed 10,000 executives at 1,000 companies over a five-year span, asking them how familiar they were with a particular brand and how favorably they viewed them.

Here's how the world's car brands fared:

10. Mazda (100/100 on CoreBrand's list)

Though the Hiroshima based automaker has fallen 6 spots in the last year, Mazda has still seen its BrandPower increase by 4 spots over the last 5 years. Through its "Zoom Zoom" marketing campaign, Mazda has portrayed itself as the car company for those with sporting pretensions, focusing on its Skyactiv engine technology. This plan seems to be working out for Mazda, as Toyota recently announced that it will use Skyactiv motors in its upcoming subcompact cars.

9. Mitsubishi Motors (99/100)

In recent years, Mitsubishi Motors has struggled mightily in the U.S. market and this has been reflected in its rankings. Mitsubishi fell 8 spots since last year's survey, and has dropped 19 spots over the last 5 years.

8. Nissan (82/100)

Even though Nissan sales are up 15.8% over last year, its rank fell 10 spots in the last year and has plummeted 41 spots over the last 5 years.

7. General Motors (67/100)

Over the last 5 years, GM has seen its BrandPower drop 30 spots. Though the company managed to claw back 3 spots over the last year, its recent recall scandal does not bode well for next year's rankings.

6. Ford Motor Company (57/100)

Ford Motor Company has remained relatively stable over the last few years and so has its BrandPower. According to CoreBrand, Ford has fallen just 1 spot over the past year and a total of 5 spots over the past 5 years. Ford supporters should be buoyed by the company's attempts to rejuvenate its ailing Lincoln brand.

5. Toyota (37/100)

Over the past 5 years, Toyota has seen its BrandPower tumble 24 spots. Much of this can be attributed to the "unintended acceleration" scandal and the public resignation of its management team in 2010. Toyota's fall from grace seems to be coming to an end after dipping only 2 spots in the last year.

4. Volvo (36/100)

Despite its recent sales growth, Volvo's has struggled to return to its former glory as the king of safety. Since the dissolution of Ford's Premier Automotive Group and its sale to China's Geely Group, Volvo Cars has seen its ranking slip 12 spots over the last 5 years and 8 spots over the last year.

3. Honda Motor Company (30/100)

Honda Motors saw its rank fall 16 spots over the past 5 years, and 4 spots since the 2013 rankings. Much of Honda's fall can be attributed to the growth of its competitors. Once the undisputed king of compact cars, the automaker now must face growing competition from challengers like Kia, Hyundai, and a rejuvenated Nissan.

2.Volkswagen (27/100)

The fact that Volkswagen is 3 spots down over last year and 9 spots down over the past five years does not reflect the automaker's aggressive marketing and expansion scheme. However, an explanation for this may be Volkswagen's slip in sales due to its ongoing struggle with the long-term reliability of its products.

1. BMW (17/100)

BMW tops the list for most power car brands once again. In fact, it even managed to climb 2 spots over last year in the overall rankings. Even though, it has fallen 6 spots over the past 5 years, the maker of the Ultimate Driving Machine is going strong and is even expanding its production facility in the U.S.