Outside of the GR Supra and the overachieving GR Yaris, Toyota doesn't exactly rank as an aspirational brand. You generally buy one because you want something dependable, uncomplicated, comfortable, and easy to maintain, not that those aren't darn good reasons to buy a car. Anyway, Toyota's focus on what really matters has paid off once again. The Japanese automaker has overtaken Mercedes-Benz to become the most valuable automotive brand on the planet. This is based on a new report released by Brand Finance. According to the report, Toyota has not fallen victim to the reduction in output of its competitors.

This isn't surprising since in June last year, despite the more fragile environment at the time due to the pandemic, Toyota committed to remaining profitable and hitting its target of producing three million vehicles annually. Toyota's brand value increased marginally to $59.5 billion, but this was enough for it to usurp Mercedes-Benz. Impressively, Toyota's sales in the third quarter of last year increased in major markets like Europe, North America, and Japan.

Elsewhere in the report, Mercedes-Benz dropped one spot to second with a brand value of $58.2 billion. It was followed by three more German marques.

These were Volkswagen ($47 billion), BMW ($40.4 billion), and Porsche ($34.3 billion). Porsche benefitted from excellent sales of the Taycan electric sedan, with over 10 percent of all Porsche sales being EVs. The big mover was Tesla, which jumped from 12th last year to 6th this year with a brand value of $31.9 billion. That makes it easily the fastest-growing brand on the planet this year based on the 2021 report. Last year, according to Brand Finance, Tesla's brand value was $12.4 billion, indicating the massive strides that have been made by the company over the last 12 months. After its stock hit a record high midway through last year, Tesla was rated as more valuable than Toyota despite selling far fewer cars. Industry juggernauts like Toyota and the Germans remain dominant, but Tesla's growth is something to watch out for.