[Eco Brand Survey] Automobile Companies Swept the Top Three Rankings

Tokyo -- July 31, 2003 -- NikkeiBP EcoManagement Forum, a membership organization aimed at contributing to the continuing development of environment-conscious management, has announced the results of its fourth "Eco Brand Survey." The survey was conducted from April 1 through May 7, 2003 under the auspices of Nikkei BP Consulting, Inc. A questionnaire survey was posted on the Internet, collecting 10,919 valid replies. Respondents were inquired about their association of eco-conscious management with 560 companies, selected by NikkeiBP EcoManagement Forum from a wide array of industries in Japan. Toyota Motor topped the ranking for the fourth consecutive year.

Noticeable about this year's results was the automobile companies' podium sweep. Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor occupied the first to third places in the ranking. In addition, breweries dominated the fourth to sixth places as well as the eighth place in the order of Suntory, Sapporo Breweries, Asahi Breweries and Kirin Brewery. Among electronics makers, Toshiba marked a sharp rise to the eleventh place from the 22th place the previous year, and Matsushita Electric Industrial rose to the ninth place from its previous fourteenth place. Their striking leap owe largely to their pioneer launch of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-free refrigerators in 2002. CFC-free refrigerators use new refrigerants that do not damage the ozone layer and have less impact on global warming. Furthermore, Shiseido, who promoted a full-scale recycling of glass bottles used for cosmetic products, soared to the 27th place from the 127th place the previous year.

Apart from the question inquiring about corporate image of eco-management, respondents were provided with specific images and were asked to choose companies that matched those given images. For example, when asked which companies can be deemed as showing efforts in saving resources and energy, Tokyo Gas snapped up to the first place. For the ranking of companies that are promoting recycling and making efforts to reduce waste, Seiko Epson became the number one for redeeming used ink cartridges of home-use printers. In the ranking of companies that are perceived as reducing the use and emission of pollutants, eight automobile companies slotted in the top ten rankings, showing how highly consumers value automakers that are tackling reduction of toxic gas emission.

On the other hand, Universal Studios Japan became the number one in the ranking of companies that are wasting resources and energy. The company also ranked high to the ninth place in the ranking of companies that are disposing too much waste or have problems with how they dispose the waste. The results of Universal Studios Japan owe largely to such corporate scandals unraveled in 2002 as serving expired foods in restaurants inside the park and supplying industrial water as drinking water. Also, in the ranking of companies that are disposing too much waste or have problems with how they dispose the waste, The Tokyo Electric Power, who face problems over nuclear power plant was the number one in the ranking. Survey findings reflect the consumers' critical eyes on companies who had revelations of corporate scandals. In the ranking of companies that are wasting resources and energy, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East) ranked sixth followed by NTT Communications. These results indicate that many consumers think the spread of communications infrastructure leads to exhaustive energy use.

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