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Toyota passes BMW as most valuable car brand

An annual market study of the strongest brands across various industries has seen Toyota leapfrog BMW as the world's most valuable automotive brand. Toyota's 2013 brand value rose to $24.5 billion, up 12 percent versus 2012 numbers according to market research company Millward Brown's BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list. BMW's value fell slightly; down by 2 percent to a total of $24 billion.
Mercedes-Benz finished in third place in the automotive category, up 11 percent from 2012 for a valuation of $18 billion. Honda ($12.4 billion, down 2 percent) and Nissan ($10.2 billion, up 3 percent) rounded out the top five for the category. Volkswagen was the only other auto brand that finished in the top 100 overall, in 100th place. Audi made the greatest percentage gain over 2012, up 18 percent to $5.5 billion, but finished outside of the top 100.
Technology companies dominated the overall list, with Apple, Google and IBM ranking one through three. Couture brand Prada was 2013's biggest gainer, rising by 63 percent over 2012.

Redesigned 2014 Toyota Tundra spied testing in Canada

When Toyota first announced that it would be bringing the 2014 Tundra pickup to next month's Chicago Auto Show, we weren't quite sure if the truck would fall into the "all-new" or "refreshed" category. After seeing this latest set of spy shots, we're striking "all-new" from the record, but the enhancements do appear to be more than just a simple nip/tuck.
While the overall shape and greenhouse haven't really changed, heavy cladding found on the front fascia suggests that a totally redesigned nose is in store, with a fully reworked grille flanked by new headlamps. Smaller styling details are hidden by the big panels of camouflage, but we anticipate a few minor tweaks to the rest of the pickup's design when all that black tape finally comes off.
Mum's the word on powertrain enhancements (if any), as well as any changes that have been made to the chassis. But with the updated 2013 Ram 1500 already on the street, the recent unveiling of the updated 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra twins, and a preview of what's to come from the likes of Ford, we certainly hope Toyota has injected enough new blood into its 2014 model year pickup to keep it competitive in this American-dominated segment. We'll know for sure come Chicago.

Toyota sold a million hybrids in last nine months, 6M since 1997

Toyota's first hybrid model – the Prius – went on sale in 1997 in Japan. It took 14 years for the company to see a cumulative total of three million hybrids (a mark reached in March 2011). Today, Toyota announced that its global sales figures of all of its gas-electric models (and there are a lot of them now, including ones we've barely heard of here in the US, like the Crown Majesta or the Harrier Hybrid) have reached six million. Toyota calculates that all those hybrids have saved 41 million tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere. Toyota's ever-increasing hybrid sales pace means the company sold as many in the last three years as it did in the first fourteen. As you can see in our chart, the trendline shows that we'll hit the next-million mark in short order. In fact, Toyota says that it sold a million hybrids in the last nine months, the shortest time it has ever taken the automaker to sell that many hybrids. Part of the reason is that there are 24 hybrid Toyota and Lexus models available around the world, and Toyota says another 15 will be coming in the next two years. Anyone want to guess when Toyota will hit seven million? August? Worldwide Sales of Toyota Hybrids Top 6 Million Units Toyota City, Japan, January 15, 2014-Toyota Motor Corporation announces that cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles topped the 6 million unit mark as of December 31, 2013, reaching 6.072 million units1. The latest million-unit milestone was achieved in the fastest time yet for Toyota, taking just nine months. Helping mitigate the environmental effects of vehicles is a priority at Toyota. Based on its belief that environment-friendly vehicles can only truly have a positive impact if they are widely used, Toyota has endeavored to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles. As of this month, Toyota sells 24 hybrid passenger car models and one plug-in hybrid model in approximately 80 countries and regions around the world. Furthermore, within the next two years, Toyota will launch a total of 15 new hybrid vehicles worldwide, including the new "Harrier Hybrid" in Japan on January 15 and the new "Highlander Hybrid" in the United States in the near future. Toyota will continue augmenting its product lineup even further and increasing the number of countries and regions where it sells hybrid vehicles.