Tesla's rise to prominence has been recognized by Interbrand, a US brand consultancy that evaluates the best global brands. While the electric carmaker did not make it into the top ten most valuable brands this year, Tesla was the fastest-growing brand of 2021, with an "unprecedented" 184 percent increase in brand value. Ranked at number 14, Tesla jumped 26 places, the highest leap out of any company, with a brand value of $36.3 million.

At the top of the automotive tree is Toyota, which was the most valued automotive brand at $54.1 million. In the overall top ten global brands, Toyota was ranked at seven, followed by Mercedes-Benz at number eight ($50.8 million) ahead of McDonald's ($45.8 million) and Disney ($44.183 million).

Apple was ranked at number one with a brand value of $408.2 million, followed by Amazon ($249.2 million) and Microsoft ($210.1 million). Other car manufacturers that made the top 100 list include BMW ($41.6 million), Honda ($21.3 million) Hyundai ($15.1 million), Audi ($13.4 million), Volkswagen ($13.4 million), Ford ($12.8 million), Porsche ($11.7 million), Nissan ($11.1 million), and Land Rover ($5.08 million).

To be clear, Interbrand does not rank brands based on sales or share value. Instead, the analysis is based on three factors: direction, agility, and participation. Direction assesses if a brand has set a clear direction and is "working towards the same ambition," while agility acknowledges brands that "move fast, bringing new products and services to market and, where necessary, pivoting to address changing customer needs."

That's ironic considering Tesla keeps delaying new models like the Roadster, Semi, and Cybertruck. Participation, on the other hand, rewards brands that "ultimately bring people on a journey with them and make them part of the movement to create an engaging brand world."

"Direction, Agility and Participation are three key themes we've seen driving brand growth over the past year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the constantly evolving business landscape, employee buy-in, adapting to change and a strong customer base have helped certain brands to thrive," said Charles Trevail, CEO of Interbrand. "It's worth calling out Tesla's growth over the past year - a three-figure increase in brand value is unprecedented in the past 22 years of Best Global Brands. Tesla is a brand that epitomizes the importance of brand Direction, Agility and Participation, so I'm unsurprised Tesla made the biggest leap up the Best Global Brands ranking in 2021."