World's top companies for R&D

• R&D investment: $9.3 billion
• 1-year growth: 3.5%

R&D spending in Japan has been recovering from the financial crisis at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, and last year was no different. The 353 Japanese companies covered by the survey spent only 0.4% more than in 2011.

Toyota (TM) stands head and shoulders above its nearest Japanese rival, Honda (HMC), which ranked 16th on the list.

Toyota is showing signs of putting the recalls and lawsuits of recent years behind it, maintaining its position as the world's biggest carmaker through 2013 so far, and should post a record profit for the current fiscal year, thanks in part to the falling yen.

It is the world leader in hybrids and plans to introduce 15 new or improved gas-electric models by 2015, when it also hopes to unveil its first fuel-cell vehicle.

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