2010 green car finalists named

LOS ANGELES | Green Car Journal has just announced its five finalists for the 2010 Green Car of the Year, including the Audi A3 TDI, Honda Insight, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Golf TDI.

For the fifth consecutive year, this prestigious award will be announced during a news conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Dec. 3.

The Green Car of the Year award is a program that honors environmental leadership in the automobile field and recognizes vehicles that are readily available to consumers during the award year. Green Car Journal editors perform an exhaustive review of vehicle models to identify the five finalists. The winner is ultimately decided by jurors such as Jay Leno, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Carroll Shelby, Matt Petersen of Global Green USA and the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope, along with Green Car Journal editors.

“We’re seeing the trend for ’green’ cars emerging at all levels, from entry-level cars to luxury models, and even performance cars and SUVs/cross overs,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com. “Plus, an array of technologies and fuels as well as strategies like lightweighting and reducing rolling resistance are being applied to the challenge. Greater choice provides buyers a personal stake in lessening environmental impact, and that’s important.”

This year’s finalists reflect this diversity. For the first time, an Audi makes the final five with its sporty A3 TDI clean diesel. Volkswagen’s new Golf TDI shows an expanding focus on clean diesel technology in the VW lineup. The Insight is a completely new hybrid sedan for Honda and the 2010 Toyota Prius is a totally redesigned, third-generation version of this popular hybrid model. The Milan Hybrid is Mercury’s application of its advanced-hybrid technology in an upscale midsize sedan.

The Green Car of the Year award is an important part of Green Car Journal’s mission to showcase environmental progress in the auto industry. Since 1992, Green Car Journal has focused on the intersection of automobiles, energy, and environment, first with an industry newsletter and then with an award-winning auto enthusiast magazine.

Today, the magazine is considered the premier source of information on high fuel-efficiency, low-emission, advanced-technology and alternative-fuel vehicles.