Toyota Named 2012 Top Green Brand

(Wednesday 27 June 2012)

Toyota has been named as Top Green Brand in the second annual listing created by US-based Interbrand, a company specialising in This Sort Of Thing. A company's place in the listing is determined not only by how it actually performs (in terms of sustainability and environmental consciousness) but also how it's seen to perform by the general public.

The companies in the Top 50 list are described by Interbrand's Global Chief Executive Jez Frampton as "strong, highly innovative brands . . . paving the way to a new era of stability, prosperity and confidence". In Toyota's case, Interbrand has been particularly impressed by the Prius, "which, in many people's minds, has become synonymous with the term 'hybrid'".

Toyota was by no means the only car manufacturer to figure highly, however. Honda came in at number three, more because of practices at its manufacturing plants than because of its cars. (The forthcoming electric Jazz was mentioned in the citation. The hybrid Insight wasn't.) Similarly, Volkswagen, at number four, was praised especially for the reduction in environmental effects at its factories.

The other car manufacturers to appear in the Top 50 were BMW (10), Ford (15), Mercedes-Benz (16), Hyundai (17) and Nissan (21). More information can be found at www.interbrand.com.