Retail in Asia

In Sectors

2011 Green Car of Year finalists revealed

Green Car Journal in the US has announced the five finalists for its 2011 Green Car of the Year award. They are the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Ford Fiesta, 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and 2011 Nissan Leaf. The winner will be announced on 18 November.

The annual award aims to honour environmental leadership in the automobile field and recognises vehicles that become available to consumers during the award year.

For the first time, the finalists include two primarily electric-drive vehicles in addition to two hybrids and a high mile-per-gallon petrol internal-combustion engine.

"These five 2011 Green Car of the Year finalists reflect an auto industry in transition," says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com. "It wasn’t long ago when electric drive was a novelty. Now, it’s expected that auto manufacturers will include electric drive in some form among their model offerings."

While four of the five nominees do incorporate electric drive, the Ford Fiesta nominee underscores that internal combustion continues to evolve in important ways. Combustion-petrol and clean-diesel models are expected to push efficiencies ever higher in the coming years.

Green Car Journal editors considered vehicles employing all fuels and technologies, including high-efficiency petrol internal combustion, advanced diesel, hybrids, electrics, and vehicles capable of running on alternative fuels.