Hyundai Motor Rises to No. 29 in Interbrand’s “Best Global Brands 2026”, Moves Up to Fourth Among Automotive Brands
- Hyundai Motor Company
- 2026.10.28 (KST)
- 분량10min
- 조회수 578Views
AI summarized the main points
AI-generated summary. Please refer to the full article for precise details.
- Brand value reaches USD 25 billion, up 2%, extending growth streak to 17 years
- Palisade named 2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year™, while IONIQ 9 earns top global safety ratings
- Group affiliate Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot wins Best Robot in CNET Group’s Best of CES 2026 as Hyundai advances physical AI and robotics leadership
SEOUL, October 28, 2026 – Hyundai Motor Company today ranked No. 29 in Interbrand's "Best Global Brands 2026" report, with brand value reaching USD 25 billion. Hyundai Motor also moved up two places to fourth among automotive brands in the ranking, from sixth in 2025, marking 17 years of consecutive growth in brand value.
Hyundai Motor's continued rise reflects ongoing strengthening of its mobility product lineup, progress in securing future growth engines such as physical AI and software-defined vehicles (SDVs), and deeper engagement with fans and audiences through major sporting events and creative campaigns worldwide.
“Seventeen consecutive years of brand value growth comes from customers who chose Hyundai and from the teams and dealer partners who earned that trust. Improving to fourth among automotive brands reflects both the strength of our products today and the technologies we are building for what comes next — software-defined vehicles and physical AI.” –José Muñoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company.
How Is Hyundai Strengthening Its Mobility Competitiveness?
Hyundai's product competitiveness was recognized through leading industry awards. The all-new Palisade was named the 2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year™ in January 2026, while the electrified flagship SUV IONIQ 9 was recognized as the World’s Best Large SUV at the 2026 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year (WWCOTY) Awards. Global safety recognition followed, with the 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 9 earning the 2026 IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+ award (Awards apply to U.S. models only) and Euro NCAP's highest safety rating.
The TUCSON Hybrid further reinforced Hyundai's product competitiveness, emerging as a key contributor to growth in global electrified vehicle sales. The model helped drive Hyundai's expanding hybrid sales in 2025 and contributed to the company's record quarterly hybrid sales performance in the first quarter of 2026. Building on this momentum, the company recently unveiled the all-new TUCSON equipped with its next-generation hybrid system, further enhancing its competitiveness in the global SUV market.
For the full year 2025, Hyundai Motor sold 961,812 electrified vehicles globally, up 27 percent year-over-year, including 275,669 EVs and 634,990 HEVs. In the first quarter of 2026, electrified vehicle sales rose 14.2 percent from a year earlier to 242,612 units, with electrified vehicles accounting for 24.9 percent of total global sales and HEVs for 17.8 percent, both all-time quarterly highs.
How Is Hyundai Securing Future Growth Engines Such as Physical AI and SDVs?
Hyundai Motor further established its leadership in physical AI and robotics. In January 2026, Hyundai Motor Group outlined human-centered AI Robotics strategy and mid- to long-term commercialization roadmap, while demonstrating technologies designed to advance the Group’s vision for physical AI and robotics.
In September 2026, Hyundai Motor Group showcased Atlas® training at the Robotics Metaplant Application Center (RMAC), advancing preparations for its planned deployment at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) beginning in 2028. Hyundai also continues to strengthen its strategic partnership with NVIDIA, contributing to Hyundai Motor Group’s broader physical AI-based manufacturing innovation such as the Saemangeum data center.
Hyundai Motor Group's robots earned a series of accolades, with Atlas winning the Best Robot award in CNET Group's Best of CES 2026 and the Robotics LAB’s MobED receiving the CES 2026 Best of Innovation Award. MobED was further named a Winner at Germany’s Red Dot Award: Product Design in May 2026, underscoring the Group's robotics technology and design competitiveness.
Hyundai continued to advance its autonomous mobility blueprint through Motional, which launched an IONIQ 5 robotaxi pilot service in Las Vegas in March 2026, laying the groundwork for Level 4 autonomous mobility commercialization.
Hyundai Motor Group unveiled Pleos software brand in early 2025, accelerating its shift toward autonomous driving and SDVs. In 2026, the Group revealed the production version of Pleos Connect, first applied to The New Grandeur in Korea in May, followed by a phased global rollout. The Group plans to equip approximately 20 million vehicles with Pleos Connect by 2030.
How Is Hyundai Expanding Brand Value Through Global Sports and Cultural Marketing?
Hyundai continued to elevate its global brand status through its official partnership with the FIFA World Cup 2026™. As a FIFA partner for 27 years since 1999, Hyundai provided the largest-ever fleet of official vehicles at the tournament and launched its brand World Cup campaign, "Next Starts Now," spanning next-generation football and the future of mobility to maximize brand affinity.
The company also strengthened its influence through mega sports partnerships across key regions, returning as the ICC's top-tier Premier Partner to boost brand awareness among cricket fans in India and worldwide in December 2025, and serving as official sponsor of the CONMEBOL Libertadores, South America's most prestigious football competition, to strengthen brand affinity across Latin America.
On the cultural marketing front, Hyundai won the Grand Prix in the Audio & Radio category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2026 for its campaign "Coquí Alarmed," marking Hyundai's second consecutive year of Grand Prix recognition following the success of "Night Fishing" in 2025. The company also continued to earn recognition for its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, building on the success of "Tree Correspondents" and receiving additional honors in 2026 for campaigns such as "Forests Without Names."
What Is Interbrand's "Best Global Brands" Report, and What Does It Mean for Hyundai?
Interbrand's "Best Global Brands" report is regarded as one of the most authoritative global brand valuations. Each year, Interbrand evaluates leading global brands across three dimensions: Financial Analysis, which measures the financial performance generated by the brand; Role of Brand, which measures the portion of the purchase decision attributable to the brand; and Brand Strength, which assesses a brand's ability to create loyalty to extend brand impact in the mid-to-long term.
“This year, Hyundai unveiled its AI robotics strategy, extending the brand into physical AI. By proving tangible competitiveness in robotics and electrification, it strengthened brand distinctiveness and trust, a key driver of brand value growth." – Jihun Moon, Global Managing Partner of Interbrand Group
