Toyota Back in Super Bowl

Toyota today will announce that it's back in the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year.

The Japanese auto maker will highlight the new, 2015 Toyota Camry in its Super Bowl commercial.

"Featuring America's top-selling car in America's biggest cultural even of the year made sense," saidJack Hollis, Toyota's vice president of marketing. The Super Bowl campaign will include Team Toyota athlete Amy Purdy -- the actress and U.S. Paralympic Teamsnowboarder.

The announcement is a big one for broadcaster NBC, which already has said that there will be fewer auto advertisers in its broadcast of the 2015 Super Bowl. With fewer major auto makers rolling out new models around the time of the Feb. 1, Super Bowl broadcast -- and with other advertisers holding back in tougher economic times -- executives at NBC have said they don't expect to sell out the game until a week or so before Super Sunday.

The 2014 Super Bowl broadcast on Fox had a parking lot full of car ads -- including GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Hyundai, Audi, Jaguar, and Honda. But for the 2015 Big Game clearly Toyota joins only Mercedes-Benz in confirming that it's in the game, although at least a few more are expected.

In the most recent Super Bowl, Toyota's spot for its new Highlander SUV starred Terry Crews and The Muppets. In the 2013 Super Bowl, Toyota featured its RAV4 in an ad with actress Kaley Cuoco as a fairy godmother granting special wishes.