Apple Inc retains it top spot as the world's most valuable brand for a fifth consecutive year with $145.3 billion brand value, more than double the $69.3 billion value of Microsoft, according to ranking released by Forbes magazine in May.

Since the magazine requires brands to have at least some presence in the US, some of the big brands, including Chinese Internet giant Tencent and multinational telecom firm Vodafone, were not on the list.

"Forbes valued these brands on three years of earnings and allocated a percentage of those earnings based on the role brands play in each industry (for example, high for luxury goods and beverages, low for airlines and oil companies). We applied the average price-to-earnings multiple over the past three years to these earnings to arrive at the final brand value," it said.

Thirteen automotive brands entered the list, and here are the top 10 most valuable automotive brands this year:

No 10, Volkswagen

Brand value: $8 billion

Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn gestures next to a VW Sport Coupe Concept GTE car ahead of the annual news conference of Volkswagen in Berlin March 12, 2015. [Photo / Agencies]