????幾天前，我在汽車網站Automotive News上看到了一則標題為《豐田力挫寶馬被評為全球最具價值汽車品牌》的報道。看著這個標題，我心想，這可挺有意思的。幾年前，豐田（Toyota）的數次大規模召回似乎并沒有影響它的聲譽，而且豐田總裁豐田章男推動的企業文化改革也給公司帶來了動力。

????然后我繼續往下讀，我發現豐田之所以被評為冠軍，很大程度上要歸功于它在混合動力技術方面的成就。豐田的混合動力車型吸引了很多追求性價比、想省汽油錢的車主。這篇報道稱，普銳斯（Prius）等混動車型“改善了這個品牌的用戶體驗”，而且放大了豐田的“特殊性和獨特性”。

????我一直認為豐田比較大氣，在市場上走的是平民路線，試圖吸引最廣泛的消費群體。在我看來，“特殊和與眾不同”似乎更符合斯巴魯（Subaru）、而不是豐田的特質。至于混動車是否吸引追求性價比的車主的問題，大多數研究都表明，要想用油價上的差額彌補車價的差額，需要好幾年的時間。

????不過這份排行榜還附上了一些很有意思的數據，所以我決定繼續讀下去。

????寶馬（BMW）為什么跌到2013年的排行榜第二位？這份調查顯示，原因是，與前幾年相比，寶馬在2012年缺乏新上市的車型。而這份排行榜上進步最快的品牌都是去年推出新車型最多的品牌。我覺得很驚訝，于是我給在寶馬公司工作的一個朋友發了一份電子郵件，請他把寶馬公司2012年發布的車型逐一列出來，以下就是寶馬2012年發布的車型：

????寶馬3系轎車

????寶馬5系混合動力版

????M5

????3系四驅版

????3系混合動力版

????640i跑車

????M6敞篷車

????X3（搭載N20引擎）

????X6M LCI小改款

????M6 Coupe

????7系LCI

????7系混動LCI

????X1

????135is

????看起來2012年寶馬還是挺忙的。

????另外這張排行榜里還有一些古怪的地方。梅塞德斯-奔馳（Mercedes）和本田（Honda）分列品牌榜的三、四位，但是日產（Nissan）居然躍升至第五位，日產CEO卡洛斯?高森聽到這個消息一定是又驚又喜，因為他一直想讓日產公司擺脫打折品牌的形象。“低價王者”現代汽車（Hyundai）名列第九位，緊緊跟在高端品牌奧迪（Audi）身后，略高于另一個高端品牌雷克薩斯（Lexus）。

????The other day, I was attracted to a story on the Automotive News website that carried the headline "Toyota overtakes BMW as most valuable global car brand." Okay, I thought, that's pretty interesting. All those recalls a few years ago don't seem to have dented Toyota's reputation, and the culture change pushed by president Akio Toyoda is getting traction.

????Then I read a little further along and discovered that Toyota's (TM) move to the top of the heap was mostly attributed its big position in hybrids that were said to be gaining favor with value-conscious consumers who wanted to save money on gas. Hybrids like Prius were "reinforcing the experience of the brand" and magnifying what is "special and different" about Toyota.

????Well, I'd always thought of Toyota as big and populist in its approach to the market, trying to appeal of the greatest number of people. "Special and different" sounded to me more like Subaru than Toyota. As to whether hybrids appeal to value-conscious consumers, most studies have shown that it takes years to amortize the hybrid price premium with savings at the gas pump.

????Still, the ratings were accompanied by some pretty impressive numbers-crunching, so I decided to read on.

????Why had BMW dropped into second place in the 2013 ranking? According to the survey, it was because of the lack of new model launches in 2012 compared to previous years. The automotive brands that grew the most in the ratings, I was informed, were the ones that launched the most models. I was surprised to hear that, so I emailed a friend at BMW to get a list of its 2012 launches. Here it is:

????3 Series Sedan

????5 Series Active Hybrid

????M5

????3 Series All Wheel Drive

????3 Series Active Hybrid

????640i Gran Coupe

????M6 Convertible

????X3 with N20 engine

????X6 M LCI facelift

????M6 Coupe

????7 Series LCI

????7 Series Active Hybrid LCI

????X1

????135is

????Looks like BMW was pretty busy in 2012.

????There were some other oddities as well. Mercedes and Honda (HMC) ranked third and fourth in brand strength, but Nissan pulled in to fifth place, which must have been a delightful surprise to CEO Carlos Ghosn, who has been pushing to raise Nissan's reputation from its current status as a discount brand. And price-leader Hyundai grabbed ninth place, just behind premium-priced Audi and ahead of premium-priced Lexus.