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Toyota and Mercedes-Benz are top global car brands

Toyota & Mercedes-Benz are the Top Global Automotive Brands 2011 Interbrand, a branding consultancy, delivers a report on the world’s brands every year, and in 2011, despite recall woes and the devastation of the Japanese Tsunami, Toyota leads the automotive brands, with luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz just behind. Interbrand uses three measures to gauge how effective a brand is – performance of branded product, the brands ability to secure earnings and the role of the brand in purchasing decisions – to come up with a chart of the top 100 world brands. At the top of the tree are companies like Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft and Google, but car brands do well with Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, VW, and Ford all making it in to the top 50.

Nissan reportedly to adapt hybrid system for front-wheel drive

Nissan Motor Co. is reportedly developing a front-wheel drive adaptation of its in-house hybrid vehicle technology for the next generation Altima Hybrid as early as next year. The system will be based on the rear-wheel-drive hybrid drivetrain that debuted in the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid, Japan's Nikkan Kogyo business daily says.

Who's Where: Peter Schreyer appointed President of Kia Motors

Peter Schreyer has been been appointed President of Kia Motors after holding the position of Chief Design Officer since 2006. Schreyer is the first non-Korean to hold the position within the company and one of the highest-ranking designers in the history of the industry. Schreyer, who is now 59, moved from the VW Group to transform the historically 'dull-but-worthy' Kia product range into one of the strongest and most design-led in the industry through stand-out production cars such as the Picanto and Sportage as well as a diverse range of concepts from Pop to GT.