Foreign Carmakers Given Greenest Ratings

SEE ALSO: Honda GX Natural Gas Model Specs and Compare

Washington DC February 14, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that an annual online rating of environmentally friendly vehicles has four new models on its list of the dozen "greenest" vehicles for 2007.

The Detroit News reports that a large number of vehicles were near misses on the list in the Green Book, an environmental guide to cars and trucks by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington.

The increase in green vehicles can be attributed in part to rising fuels costs and concerns about the environment and foreign energy dependence.

Honda Motor Co.'s natural-gas-powered Civic GX was the nation's greenest vehicle.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, another gasoline-electric hybrid, was second, followed closely by Honda's Civic hybrid.

The 12 greenest cars this year are Asian models, blanking out American automakers for only the second time in the 10 years the Green Book has been published. The ratings cover 467 models but a total of 1,336 vehicle configurations. The listings are available from the nonprofit environmental lobbying group, at www.greenercars.com.