A reputation survey, the Global RepTrak 100 2012, reveals BMW, SONY and Disney as the three most reputable companies in the world.

The annual report, conducted by Reputation Institute, surveyed over 100,000 participants in how stakeholders perceive companies and how such perceptions influence consumer behavior.

BMW claims first place with an “excellent” score of 80.8, rising from fourth place in 2011. It is joined in the top ten by two fellow German car companies, each outperforming the rest of the industry by at least 10 points.

Apple falls by two places to fifth position, with Reputation Institute finding its reputation platform strong enough to withstand the loss of its leader, Steve Jobs, in October last year.

Last year’s winner, Google, fell to sixth place this year, however it won best global workplace with a score of 76.6.

Just 11% of companies have better reputations abroad than at home, including Nestle, Cannon and Nokia, despite 95% of revenue coming from foreign markets.

The survey aims to demonstrate that reputation depends on company principles rather than product and documents the reputation of the best 100 companies across the 15 largest economies.