Avalon isn't one of Toyota's best-selling vehicles, and the full-size sedan has never been one of the brand's most exciting offerings. But part of the mantle of being one of the world's few full-line automakers is that you cover every segment, because your dealers want you to, and because there are still top- and bottom-line opportunities even at smaller volumes.

Cue Toyota's now-launching 2013 Toyota Avalon, which it teased last April at the New York Auto Show. It's been completely redesigned — as has one of its main competitors, the new Chevrolet Impala — and is looking to conquest buyers in the target 40- to 60-year-old market who still enjoy the virtues of a relatively full-bodied automobile.Continue reading...

SABMiller this week updated its Africa strategy: "Double the price of beer, Halve the price of beer and Go Farming." Double the price is explained above with a case study on its Castle Lite brand; the other two pillars were explained in two other videos, explained as:

Halve the Price of Beer: Halve the price of beer refers to our strategy of innovating and producing more affordable beers using local ingredients and creating an entry point into commercial beers for consumers who are trading out of informal alcohol and entering the formal alcohol market. In this short film we introduce the strategic context and look at how our traditional beer Chibuku Shake Shake has grown in Zambia and showcases how we are innovating to extend our reach to more consumers through PET in our new offer Chibuku Super.Continue reading...

Lest doubters hold sway, General Motors turned in its best September in U.S. sales in four years and enjoyed strong performances in the important small-vehicle segments that are pacing the American market these days.

Overall, U.S. auto sales in September rose by about 13 percent compared with a year ago, continuing a moderate recovery that is providing much of the momentum behind whatever slow progress is being made by the American economy these days.

In fact, GM executives used their conference call with automotive reporters not only to underscore the positive results for September but also to declare that the company and its brands are on track to fulfill long-term goals that have been established for a while. "Things are working exactly as we designed," said Kurt McNeil, VP of U.S. sales operations.Continue reading...

Beer consumption in North America and Europe may be falling, but folks in Africa and Latin America are apparently putting back a few more than they used to because the folks at the London-based SABMiller were singing the praises of those two regions to shareholders on Thursday.

Reuters reports that the brewer’s annual earnings actually went up 12 percent (to $5.6 billion in pre-tax profits) and that 70 percent of the SABMiller profits came from “fast-growing emerging markets.” The specific countries in the world beer market that helped boost SABMiller in those regions are Latin America’s Colombia and Peru as well as the African nations of Tanzania and Zambia.Continue reading...

As a marker for the U.S. auto industry, the New York International Auto Show traditionally has battled for second place with those in Chicago and Los Angeles. The annual Detroit show in January is the most important platform.

But at this point in the recovery of the American auto market, it's hard to believe that any platform anywhere could be more important than the New York show that, after press previews last week, is now in its full splendor for the TriState automotive public. The exhibition is providing consumers with the first glimpses of some new models that could occupy increasingly important positions in the market over the next several months as automakers seek a return to sales levels of 14 million or more for 2012, which would make up roughly half the distance between their Great Recession trough and the halcyon days of 17 million sales per year a decade ago.

Beyond the splashes made by a new version of Chrysler's Viper, and the greeting for Nissan's competition-winning Taxi of Tomorrow for New York City, here are some other brand highlights of the show:

Acura: Honda's luxury brand is trying to become relevant again in the most tried-and-true way: launching a flurry of new products. The RLX sport-sedan concept on display at NYIAS will soon go into a production version that will be on sale early next year and replace Acura's slow-selling RL. Continue reading...