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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.

2009 Chrysler 300C SRT8, an AutoWeek Drivers Log

EXECUTIVE EDITOR WES RAYNAL: This car is an old-school hoot with its rear drive and big honkin' V8. The 425-hp figure is magical. That was the power output of the mighty 426 Hemi through the 1960s and '70s.

Chat live with AutoWeek executive editor Roger Hart on Friday

AutoWeek executive editor Roger Hart will field your questions at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. Roger just got back from the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, and he is editor of the CarLife section of the magazine.