Ferrari has pipped Apple as the world's most powerful brand.

According to brand valuation and marketing experts Brand Finance, the company achieved the highest rating in its Global 500 analyses of performance, despite being a niche sports car maker with a much smaller value than other global brands.

A key driver of brand value is revenue. Ferrari cannot compete in terms of the size of the multi-national brands. However, its brand rating takes into account other financial metrics such as net margins, average revenue per customer, marketing and advertising spend as well as qualitative measures such as brand affection and loyalty.

Taken together, Ferrari outperforms not only rival auto manufacturers BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Lexus and Audi but all brands worldwide.

Ferrari announced record results for the first nine months of 2012, recording an increase in net profits by 7.6% to £207m on a turnover of £2.1 billion.

It has also said it wants to sell fewer cars this year (7,000 sales in 2013 compared to 7,138 in 2012) in order to preserve "brand exclusivity".

Brand Finance chief executive David Haigh said: ""Brand is one of many intangible assets which drive profitable growth. Technology, contractual, human capital and customer intangibles as well as general goodwill all drive overall corporate value.

"With revenues in the tens of billions, Apple and Samsung are slugging it out for global brand supremacy and are vying with each other to create strong 'customer love' for their brands.

"However, there are other brands in the Global 500 that though they may never challenge the brand value giants, are nonetheless extremely powerful and well-loved."

"As the Global 500 powerfully demonstrates, customer expectations of brands are much higher than ever as trust becomes a critical business issue in a time of increased economic uncertainty.

"To fulfil such expectations, brand owners must continue to innovate whilst at the same time deliver quality with value, choice with social responsibility and sustainability with growth."

Apple had a roller coaster year in 2012. Its enterprise value went from $350 billion to $600bn only to dip to $400bn in 12 months. Despite a raft of new product launches, such as the new iPhone and iPad, the company continued to lose ground to Samsung and it was only its sheer size that helped Apple maintain its lead position over its smaller South Korean rival.

View all the top table of automotive brands at the Brand Finance website.