2012
Green Car of the Year® Finalists Revealed
Winner
to be Announced at the L.A. Auto Show Nov. 17
|
LOS
ANGELES -- Green Car Journal announced
its five finalists for the 2012 Green Car of the Year®
award today. For the seventh consecutive year, the Green
Car of the Year® honors environmental leadership in
the automotive field, with the winner being announced during
a press conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show Press Days
on Nov. 17. This year's five finalists include the 2012
Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas, 2012
Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v and 2012 Volkswagen Passat
TDI. The Green Car of the Year® award recognizes vehicles
that become available by January 1 of the award year.
These five finalists are also honored as Green Car Journal's
Top 5 Green Cars for 2012 for rising to the top of a field
replete with increasingly more environmentally conscious
and exciting models.
What
is notable about this year's field of outstanding nominees
is that they represent different takes on what makes a car
'green.' Honda's Civic Natural Gas champions an alternative
fuel that burns cleanly and is abundant in the U.S. The
Volkswagen Passat TDI continues this automaker's expansion
of new clean diesel products that produce significantly
lower emissions while achieving an impressively high mpg
rating. The Prius v is a larger variant of Toyota's popular
hybrid model and marks an expansion of Prius into its own
family of vehicles. Ford's Focus Electric and Mitsubishi's
i continue the march toward greater choices of zero-emission
all-electric vehicles on American highways.
"This
year's Green Car of the Year® finalists underscore that
there is no single solution to our transportation challenges,"
said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal
and editor of GreenCar.com. "Here we have five exceptional
answers to the question of how we're going to increase efficiencies,
reduce tailpipe and CO2 emissions, and decrease petroleum
use. These nominees deserve to be recognized for their unique
approaches in providing consumers diverse choices as cars
intelligently evolve toward a more environmentally-compatible
motoring future."
Narrowing
the field to five nominees these days is no easy thing,
according to Green Car Journal editors. Literally
dozens of models are considered that feature improved environmental
impact and increased efficiencies. Vehicles running on all
fuels and technologies weigh in, including high-efficiency
gasoline and diesel models along with ones that run on gaseous
fuels, electricity and other alternative fuels. Along with
quantifiable environmental achievement, market significance
and 'newness' are but a few of many criteria considered
as the field is narrowed to a final five.
Green
Car of the Year® jurors include leaders of the nation's
top environmental organizations, including Carl Pope, chairman
of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural
Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president
of Ocean Futures Society and Matt Petersen, president of
Global Green USA. Also, Jay Leno, noted auto enthusiast
and host of the "Tonight Show," as well as automotive
icon Carroll Shelby join Green Car Journal editors
in rounding out the 2012 jury.
About
Green Car of the Year®
The
GCOY award is an important part of Green Car Journal's
mission to showcase environmental progress in the auto industry.
Founded in 1992, Green Car Journal is considered
the premier source of information on high fuel efficiency,
low emission, advanced technology, and alternative fuel
vehicles. Subscription information, along with a downloadable
sample issue, can be found at GCJUSA.com. Green Car of the
Year® is a registered trademark of Green Car Journal
and RJ Cogan Specialty Publications Group, Inc.
About
the L.A. Auto Show
As
the first major North American Auto Show of the season,
the 2011 L.A. Auto Show will host approximately 50 World
and North American debuts. Press Days, Nov. 16 and 17, will
feature more than 25 press conferences from manufacturers
around the globe. Join the LA Auto Show conversation by
following the Show at Twitter.com/LAAutoShow,
Facebook.com/LosAngelesAutoShow
and sign up for alerts at LAAutoShow.com.
Source:
Los Angeles Auto Show
