Diamond Blank Wall Plate, Brown 52488 on 2040-parts.com

CEO Krafcik leaves Hyundai, succeded by Zuchowski

Hyundai Motor America said John Krafcik will step down as CEO at year end, capping a five-year run during which he steered the Hyundai brand to record U.S. sales and market share. Krafcik will be succeeded by Dave Zuchowski, currently Hyundai's executive vice president of U.S.

Freelander 2 RS200 by Project Khan

The Freelander RS200 by Project Khan - a bit of a bargain I suppose you could say we opened our mouth too soon. It’s only a couple of weeks ago – when we reviewed Land Rover’s latest Freelander 2 HSE – we said in passing that, unlike the Range Rover Sport, you almost never see a pimped out Freelander 2. Wrong.

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.