Last fall, the Chevy Tahoe 2-mode Hybrid won the Green Car of the Year award at the LA Auto Show. The hybrid SUV couldn't pull off a similar victory in today's North American Truck of the Year award at the Detroit Auto Show. Instead, the Mazda CX-9 crossover took top honors, beating the second-place Tahoe in the voting points 201-140.

Over on the car side of the aisle, the Chevy Malibu (standard, not the hybrid) won the Car of the Year award with 190 points (beating second-place Cadillac CTS. Does this mean that green issues will take a back seat here in Detroit? It's not an auspicious start, but we will certainly see a healthy dose of green news from the Motor City (as you'll be able to read later today). What this does mean, though, is that the CotY judges appreciate a simple, vanilla sedan as much as anyone.


[Source: NAIAS, Autoblog]

Don't get us wrong, we like the Smart Fourtwo just as much as anybody, but when considering what car deserves the title "Car of the Year" the little two-seater isn't the first vehicle that comes to mind. Not that the car is undeserving of some honor: the fuel mileage is laudable, the safety features are all present and accounted for and the emissions are suitably low. The problem is that there are other vehicles which perform equally as well in most of the categories mentioned for a similar price point. What would really merit an award such as "Car of the Year" would be an electric version of the Smart for the same price as the gas powered model. Now we're taking!

So, now that the pros and cons of the Fourtwo have been discussed, what do you readers think? Is the Smart an award-winning vehicle?

[Source: Detroit News]

At the L.A. Auto Show earlier this month, the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid won the Green Car of the Year award. Carlist's Lou Ann Hammond got a chance to ask Bob Lutz what he thinks about being nominated (and then winning) this award. She's posted a video of that conversation over on the site.

So, what does "Maximum" Bob Lutz have to say about this award? The nomination can help move public opinion towards thinking that GM is a green automaker, but the company is still at a 3 or 4 on a scale that goes up to 10. What would move them to a 6 or a 7, Hammond asks?

"If we can put the Volt into production tomorrow and start selling 60,000 to 70,000 a year that would definitely do it," Lutz answers. Watch the rest of the conversation here.

[Source: Carlist]

The Volkswagen Golf (or Rabbit, if you're a Yank like me and always prefer a car's name to reference a potential meal rather than a game for old people) has just been awarded Car of the Year by ACFO, an organization that produces a bi-monthly journal called "Fleet Operator." CotY was awarded to the Golf for "delivering operational performance, whole-life cost control and driver appeal as well as an environmental edge." In other words, it's one of the best Euro-boxes out there for professionals and consumers alike.

So why isn't it as popular here? It is the exact same vehicle, with only some different engine options, though the ones offered in the States are still quite good. A wise man named Jack Handey once wrote, "Instead of building newer and larger weapons of mass destruction, I think mankind should try to get more use out of the ones we have." So instead of pining after the fun, practical microcars being enjoyed by so many across the pond, why don't we try to appreciate and, I don't know, buy the ones we already have here.

[Source: ACFO via Newspress]

Fifty-eight journalist from twenty-two countries around Europe have voted the Fiat 500 as "European Car of the Year 2008" with 385 votes, ahead of the Mazda 2 (325 votes) and the Ford Mondeo (202). The cute subcompact was also in 57 of the 58 short lists and was voted first by jury members.

Fiat has won already this award 12 times: Fiat 124 (1967), Fiat 128 (1970), Fiat 127 (1972), Lancia Delta (1980), Fiat Uno (1984), Fiat Tipo (1989), Fiat Punto (1995), Fiat Bravo/Brava (1996), Alfa 156 (1998), Alfa 147 (2001), Fiat Panda (2004) and the Fiat 500 (2008).

The 500 is quite a success: up to date, 105,000 orders have been placed in Germany and Italy. The diesel version is including a Diesel Particulate Filter as a standard, and all engines satisfy the Euro V.

Related:

• Fiat 500 wins Eurocarbody 2007 award
• Fiat 500 - cute, green and also safe

[Source: Fiat]

What Car? magazine likes to call their annual Car of the Year awards the "Motoring Oscars," but without Joan River's annoying cackle, is any award like this really worth anything. Oh wait...

This year, the 30th for the awards, the Vauxhall's Corsa was crowned the top car (see image gallery of the Corsa VXR Supermini here), and Toyota/Lexus won the Green Award, which recognizes "the company's achievements in leading the development of hybrid and clean diesel engines." Toyota and Lexus won the same award last year. One factor that led to the Corsa's win was that it was "environmentally friendly," according to Steve Fowler, What Car?'s group editor.

As for the Green Award, Fowler said at the award ceremony that, "Climate change is of increasing concern to car buyers and Toyota and Lexus are doing more than anyone else to offer consumers low-CO2 vehicles. Other manufacturers have been slow out of the blocks when it comes to environmental matters – we'd like to see more low-CO2 vehicles launched as a matter of priority."

The entire list categories and winners for What Car? Car of The Year 2007 includes:

• Supermini - Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 Club air-con 5dr
• Small Family Car - VW Golf 1.6 FSI Match 5dr
• Family Car - VW Passat 2.0 TDI S
• Estate Car - Vauxhall Vectra 1.9 CDTI Exclusiv
• Compact 4x4 - Land Rover Freelander 2.2 TD4 GS
• Large 4x4 - Land Rover Discovery TDV6 SE auto
• Hot Hatch - Mini Cooper S
• Coupé - Audi TT 2.0 TFSI
• Open-Top - VW Eos 2.0 T FSI
• Performance Car - Porsche Cayman S
• MPV - Citroën C4 Picasso 1.6 HDI SX EGS
• Compact Executive - BMW 320d ES
• Executive Car - BMW 525i SE auto
• Luxury Car - Mercedes S320 CDI
• Green Award - Toyota / Lexus
• Safety Award - Mercedes
• Overall Car of The Year - Vauxhall Corsa

You can see a high-resolution gallery of the winners by clicking on the image or the thumbnails above. The images are downloadable for your personal use.

[Source: What Car?]