Hyundai Is Now 8th Best Global Auto Brand

2011 Hyundai Equus (Korean-market vehicle)

Brand valuation is an imprecise science, but in very basic terms, it merges the qualitative data from a company's balance sheet with the qualitative data of public perception. BusinessWeek and Interbrand have just released their list of the 100 "Best Global Brands" (PDF here), and Hyundai has done surprisingly well, rising several spots from last year. It's now 69th in the world -- far behind Coke, Google, and others, but as automakers go, it's a strong number eight, above Porsche, Ferrari, and Lexus. Not that we expected anything different, given Hyundai's recent winning streak. [Autodeadline]