Top 10: Coolest automotive brands

The dictionary definition of ‘cool’ is fashionably attractive or impressive. That makes it an entirely subjective thing, so attempting to come up with a list of what’s cool (or not) is bound to cause some disagreement.



Moreover, trying to apply the ‘cool’ label to brands is particularly difficult, because everyone’s perception and experience of them will be totally personal.



Nevertheless, gauging the coolness of brands is exactly what the annual CoolBrands survey endeavours to do. Administered by The Centre for Brand Analysis, it canvasses both an ‘Expert Council’ of 37 opinion formers and almost 3,000 British adults.



Each respondent is asked to rate a shortlist of 1,150 brands from 1 to 10, bearing in mind six attributes: authenticity, desirability, innovation, originality, style and uniqueness.



The results for the 2013/14 study have just been published, with only two automotive companies - Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz - represented in the top twenty league table.

2013/14 CoolBrands Survey - Top 20 Brands
Rank	Brand	Category
1	Apple	Technology - General
2	Aston Martin	Automotive
3	Rolex	Fashion - Accessories, Jewellery and Watches
4	Nike	Sportswear and Equipment
5	Glastonbury	Attractions and The Arts - Events
6	YouTube	Music and Movie Streaming
7	Google	Media - Networks, Platforms and Providers
8	Twitter	Social Media
9	Virgin Atlantic	Travel - General
10	Ray-Ban	Fashion - Accessories, Jewellery and Watches
11	Mercedes-Benz	Automotive
12	Bang and Olufsen	Technology - Audio
13	Chanel	Fashion - Clothing
14	Prada	Fashion - Clothing
15	Adidas	Sportswear and Equipment
16	BBC iPlayer	Music and Movie Streaming
17	Sony	Technology - General
18	Sony Music	Media - Production
19	Alexander McQueen	Fashion - Clothing
20	Spotify	Music and Movie Streaming

Aston Martin invariably scores highly in this type of exercise, so its inclusion comes as no surprise. Whether that indicates a herd-like mentality or a lack of imagination on the part of those polled is debateable, but undoubtedly Aston Martin remains an attractive brand.

Aston Martin: The coolest automotive brand according to CoolBrands.

But are there cooler car or motorcycle marques?



As a starting point to answer that question, only those manufacturers with a consistently desirable model range should be worthy of consideration. Admittedly it’s a harsh condition, as plenty of contenders are instantly excluded - even if they build some cool products.



A good example is Fiat. The 500 might be deemed extremely trendy, but the Bravo and Qubo really aren’t. So overall, Fiat can’t be described as a cool brand.



On that basis, here’s an alternative list of the top ten coolest automotive brands. The same six criteria used by CoolBrands have been applied to arrive at the ranking.

Autoesque - Top 10 Coolest Automotive Brands
Rank	Brand
1	Morgan
2	Land Rover
3	Rolls-Royce
4	Aston Martin
5	MV Agusta
6	Jaguar
7	Ducati
8	Harley-Davidson
9	McLaren
10	Triumph

First place goes to Morgan, which is hard to beat for uniqueness, originality and authenticity. And yet the Worcestershire-based business can still innovate, as demonstrated by the likes of the 3 Wheeler and latest Plus 8 with its aluminium chassis.

Morgan: Cooler than Aston Martin.

Runner-up is Land Rover, a brand that gains a lot of points for innovation and authenticity, while Rolls-Royce completes the top three. Aston Martin appears in fourth spot thanks mainly to its cars’ desirability and style (despite the Cygnet).



However, there’s no sign of Mercedes-Benz. Yes, the Stuttgart firm makes some extremely accomplished vehicles, but efforts like the B-Class, GL-Class and van-based Viano let the side down when it comes to general coolness.



Related posts:
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Gulf Morgan 3 Wheeler
Top 10: Chic cars for £20k
75 years of the Morgan 4/4

Aston Martin Ducati Harley-Davidson Jaguar Land Rover McLaren Mercedes-Benz Morgan MV Agusta Random stuff Rolls-Royce Top 10 Triumph -

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- Friday, September 27, 2013