Chevrolet Camaro Rs/ss on 2040-cars

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Toyota tops Kelley Blue Book's Resale Value Awards

Kelley Blue Book announced its annual Best Resale Value Award winners, and we weren't too surprised to see the list dominated by Japanese automakers - mainly Toyota and Honda. KBB hands out the awards based on the projected residual value of mostly all 2013 model year vehicles, and Toyota skated home with a number of awards including 10 of the 22 overall categories and having five of its products in the top 10 for models with best resale value. KBB's Best Resale Value Awards were announced in the same week as the ALG Residual Value Awards, and there were many similarities between both lists, especially when it came to Toyota.
To come up with its winners, KBB measures depreciation over the first five years of ownership, and looks for the cars it expects to hold its value the best after this time; on average, the report says the 2013 model year vehicles will lose 61.8 percent of its value in five years. Of the 22 categories, 15 slots were filled by Toyota, Honda and Nissan products, while the Camaro and Porsche (Cayenne and Panamera) each took home a pair of awards. If Toyota has anything to be upset about in this list of cars, it's that categories for Hybrid/Alternative Energy Car and Electric Vehicle went to the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Volt, respectively.
The overall top 10 models for the best resale value in 2013 are, in alphabetical order:

Hot Wheels' Twitter-enabled vending machine coughs up free Camaro diecasts

There are still plenty of companies that haven't gotten the whole social media thing down pat yet, but Hot Wheels isn't one of them. During the recent Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, Hot Wheels created a lot of buzz for itself by using a vending machine filled with Chevrolet Camaro models, but instead of money to get the cars, show attendees just had to use Twitter.
To get the free car, people were asked to send a tweet to Hot Wheels Canada saying what they liked about the new Hot Wheels Edition Camaro, and including the #ChevyCIAS hashtag. This seemed to be a popular marketing tool, too, as AdWeek reports that the @HotWheelsCanada account more than tripled in followers during the course of the 10-day show. Looking ahead, this could open up even more innovative marketing possibilities using social media.
Check out the video posted below to watch how it works, and while the auto show has ended and the free-car giveaway has too, we're almost certain that some of the 1,500 freebies will make their way onto eBay.

Chevy to show redesigned Captiva in Geneva, will it come to US rental lots?

Unless you're renting a car or driving through Orlando, Florida (the rental car capital of the US), you'll probably never see a Chevrolet Captiva - the rebadged, fleet-only version of the old Saturn Vue - on our roads, but this crossover is popular in many other parts of the world. As such, Chevrolet announced that the Captiva will be getting an update for 2013, which will be unveiled next week at the Geneva Motor Show.
Coming off a pretty extensive refresh in 2011, the 2013 model year will bring even more changes to the Captiva like LED taillights, new 18-inch wheels and revised fascias with a new grille and fog lights up front and inset chrome exhaust outlets at the rear. New interior features include heated rear seats, dual-zone climate control as well as available options on some of the upper trim levels such as leather seating and keyless entry and start. We have yet to hear back from Chevrolet as to whether or not the updated Captiva will be making its way to a rental lot near you, as the model is only available in the US to fleet buyers.
Alongside the updated Captiva, Chevy is also showing off its new Trax in Europe, where the subcompact crossover will go on sale this spring. GM's press release for these two Geneva-bound models is posted below.