A Millward Brown survey has rated BMW as the most valuable car brand in the world, valuating it at around $21.82 billion. BMW overtook last year’s winner Toyota, which is now positioned at the second place with an overall estimated worth of $21.77 billion. It is noteworthy that both companies reflected worth was a lot lesser than last year owing to the economic downturn that hampered the global economy.

The biggest losers in this year’s survey were Porsche which was down by 31 percent and Toyota that saw a downfall of 27 percent compared to the estimated value last year. VW rose up in value by 20 percent and Ford also registered a rise of 19 percent. On the other hand, Audi, which self proclaims themselves to be the best premium brand, stood at a disappointing ninth place with an overall value of $3.62 billion.

Source: Alex Ion

As weird as it may sound (or not) a Ferrari F430 Spider was caught bursting into flames somewhere in Singapore. The exquisite Spider reportedly caught fire on April 28th at 11:56 am (local time) and until now, there are no specific details available as to how the commuter charred to ashes. Luckily there was no one injured in the mishap but despite quick efforts by the Singapore Civil Defense Force to save it from burning completely, the final result was the same. Brings tears to our eyes.

Source: Alex Ion

Saab has lined up a couple of interesting new models, with the new 2012 Saab 9-5 Wagon, also known as the SportCombi, the most interesting to make it to the market. A fresh image of the commuter has surfaced courtesy of a sales presentation and the leaked image reveals the sleek design with a distinctive profile. It gets sloping C pillars which will, by all means, reduce the luggage capacity of the estate wagon and it will hold 540 liters of cargo with the seats folded down. The wagon will share the engine from its sedan variant which runs on three options — 162 kW turbocharged 2.0-liter petrol, a 118 kW 2.0-liter turbodiesel, and a turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 with 221 kW output. The 2012 Saab 9-5 Wagon will probably break cover at the Paris Motor Show later this year.

Source: Alex Ion

Toyota will be heaving a huge sigh of relief knowing that other famous brands will also recall some of their vehicles. Joining the bandwagon, Porsche is going to recall 11,324 Panameras (2010 models) as the automobile manufacturer discovered a seat belt related flaw during internal testing. Porsche detailed that accelerating and reversing repeatedly could cause the seat-belt to release. While this is no major problem, Porsche intends to fix the Panameras when they are taken to a dealership for scheduled maintenance. I think we can start making bets to find out who’s next in the recall saga. Who do you think they are?

Source: Alex Ion

The Nürburgring circuit is always flocked with test mules and the latest coming from the spy photographers is the upcoming Audi RS3 that sports an unique orange color scheme. Compared to the A3, the new Audi RS3 is a pretty different looking commuter — a visible difference in these spy flicks are the larger air intakes on the modified front bumper. The RS3 is indeed directly comparable with the S3 Sportback in terms of body. While there are no official specs for the RS3, it is widely believed that it will come with the same 340 PS 2.5 liter, turbocharged 5-cylinder engine as in the Audi TT RS. We expect to see a finished version of the Audi RS3 at the Paris Motor Show in September. [via WCF]

Source: Alex Ion