Toyota Best Global Green Brand & BMW Wakes Up with Electric Dream Cars

A new Interbrand study says Toyota is “a
leading example of making the environment a core management priority, while
also engaging in a meaningful way with audiences around the world.” 3M and
Siemens finished 2^nd and 3^rd in the Best Global Green
Brands survey published this week. And when BMW sets up a new division to make and
market electric and hybrid cars, it ranks as one of the most sensational
automotive events in recent history. Every member of the board of directors of
the Bavarian manufacturer was present, underlining the importance of this new
family of i-concept cars.

Toyota the world’s greenest brand –
Interbrand

By Paul Lienert, Correspondent, Inside Line (29July
2011):

•A new
Interbrand study says Toyota is “a leading example of making the
environment a core management priority, while also engaging in a meaningful way
with audiences around the world.”

•Global brands 3M and Siemens finished 2nd and
3rd.

•Results of the Best Global Green Brands
survey were published this week.

LONDON — A new study by Interbrand has
acclaimed Toyota as the world’s greenest brand, ahead of multinational
industrial giants 3M and Siemens.

Results of the first-ever Best Global Green
Brands survey were published this week by the international brand consultancy,
which just last September said Toyota’s massive recalls had caused it to drop
from 8th to 11th place in Interbrand’s better known Best Global Brands study.
At the time, Interbrand said Toyota had lost 16 percent of its brand value.

Earlier this year, a different survey, the
annual BrandZ Top 100 study released in May by media giant WPP’s research
subsidiary Millward Brown, said Toyota had overtaken BMW as the world’s top
automotive brand. That study valued the Toyota brand at $24.1 billion and said,
“Toyota has successfully proven that having a brand that consumers trust
and are loyal to can help companies survive crises.”

Interbrand’s new Best Global Green Brands
survey, in contrast, was designed to measure environmental performance, based
on public records, coupled with public perception of a brand’s environmental
sustainability.

Based in part on interviews with more than
10,000 consumers in such global markets as the U.S., U.K., France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Brazil and India, the study gave Toyota a Green Performance Score
of 64.19 points.

Citing the automaker’s pioneering development
and commercialization of hybrid vehicles, spearheaded by the Prius Interbrand
singled out Toyota as “a leading example of making the environment a core
management priority, while also engaging in a meaningful way with audiences
around the world.”

Interbrand added that “the strongest
green brands consistently differentiate themselves and engage in green
activities that consumers find relevant, as well as implement profitable green
practices across their organization, from setting and executing environmental
programs to effectively measuring and reporting their performance to the
public.”

Inside Line says: Despite wrestling with a
plethora of daunting issues, ranging from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami to the
global recall of millions of vehicles, the Toyota brand continues to show
remarkable resilience.

Source: www.insideline.com

BMW’s electric dream

Bavarian company plugs into the future with
new line of cars

By Shreejit Changaroth for Straits Times in Frankfurt
(6 August 2011):

The all-electric i-3 Concept and the
petrol-electric hybrid i-8 Concept (ABOVE) are just the first

When BMW sets up a new division to make and
market electric and hybrid cars, it ranks as one of the most sensational
automotive events in recent history. Perhaps even more so than Toyota’s
creation of Lexus and Mercedes’ foray into micro-mini Smarts.

At the Bavarian manufacturer’s premiere of
the i-Series here, every member of the board of directors was present,
underlining the importance of this new family of cars.

Two cars were shown: an all-electric i-3
Concept and a petrol-electric hybrid i-8 Concept.

Two years ago, BMW showcased various aspects
of its electric car project, known at that time as the Mega City Vehicle (MCV).
The complete running prototype is now called the i-3 – an amalgam of
technologies developed for the MCV.

The i-3 Concept is a compact and stylish
five-door hatchback designed as an urban runabout. In order to keep overall
weight as low as possible, the chassis is basically a carbon composite
monocoque passenger cell bonded to an aluminium frame that carries the
drivetrain.

i-3 is a pure electric vehicle and designed
from scratch. Located in the rear is a 170hp electric motor driving the rear
wheels. Coincidentally, the 250Nm of torque produced by the motor means the i-3
has identical power and torque figures as the latest BMW 118i. And like the
118i, the i-3 also accelerates from rest to 100kmh in under eight seconds.

Electrical energy for the i-3′s motor is
provided by batteries that are laid out in the floor, under the seats. BMW says
this configuration is ideal in terms of space efficiency and crash safety.

Although some styling features, like the
expansive glass over the doors, may not make it to production, the i-3′s
overall size and shape, as well as its chassis and drivetrain, will remain
largely unchanged when the car arrives in showrooms some time in 2013.

The i-8 Concept is based on the BMW Vision
EfficientDynamics concept car. Fascinating to look at, the i-8 hybrid also
promises astonishing performance figures: 0-100kmh in under five seconds and a
fuel economy of between 5 and 7 litres/100km.

There are two power plants in the i-8.
Driving the front wheels is essentially the same drivetrain used in the i-3. A
mid-mounted internal combustion engine drives the rear wheels. With just three
cylinders and a total displacement of 1.5 litres, the petrol engine does not
sound like a lot. In reality, however, the turbocharged unit is quite a fine
piece of work, putting out a maximum of 220bhp.

Each power plant can run independently or in
tandem, when a total of 348bhp and 550Nm of torque can be unleashed to propel
the i-8.

These concept cars are just the first two
models of BMW’s bold i-Series. Between the i-3 and i-8, there could well be
more electric or hybrid products bearing the blue-and-white emblem in the near
future.

Undoubtedly, BMW will gauge the response to
the first two cars before deciding which direction its i-Series will take in
future.

Source: www.straitstimes.com