Car brands dominated the top 10 of Interbrand's best Global Green Brands Report as Toyota maintained first position while Ford, Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen also featured.
The report said automotive brands have shown innovation in providing sustainable options of their products, which explained why it featured so heavily at the top end of the list.
Toyota, which sold 2.9 million Prius models worldwide in 2012 stayed at number one, followed by Ford in second position. Ford has climbed 13 spots since the last report. Honda was third, Nissan was fifth and Volkswagen was seventh. Two more made it into the top 20 with BMW in 13th and Mercedes Benz in 17th place.
Technology and electronic brands were also dominant throughout the list with Panasonic the highest placed in fourth position. Nokia, Dell, Sony, HP, Samsung and Siemens were all in the top 20. Others in the top 50 were Intel, Apple (which dropped nine places), Philips, GE, IBM, Cisco, Xerox, Canon and Microsoft.
Also in the top 20 were Johnson & Johnson (6), Danone (8), Nestle (14), Adidas (15), Coca-Cola (19) and L'Oreal (20).
The Interbrand report featured what it calls a 'gap' score, which measured the disparity between a brand's perception versus its performance. The top three – Toyota, Ford and Honda – had slightly negative 'gap' scores in the two range while the highest negative 'gap' scores went to McDonald's (-21.27) and Coca-Cola (-13.65).
The best positive 'gap' scores were achieved by Nokia which had 18.50 and Cisco which had 17.38 which indicated the companies had better sustainability practices consumers gave them credit for.
The Interbrand report was compiled in conjunction with data from Deloitte.
Interbrand global chief executive Jez Frampton said: “What makes the annual Best Global Green Brands report unique and valuable is that it examines performance in action. The report provides leading brands with the insights they need to develop robust strategies – strategies that will not only drive their businesses forward, but also have a positive impact on the environment and communities in which those businesses operate.”
Deloitte global sustainability leader David Pearson said: “Sustainability continues to assert itself on the business agenda. Customers and stakeholders are holding businesses more and more accountable for sustainability performance, and businesses... are thus showing increased focus and innovation in the sustainability realm – leading to improved programs and reporting.”
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