Toyota Models Top Environmental Cars List

In the latest 2011/2012 edition of the Environmental Car List published by the Traffic Club of Germany, Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD), Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles took a dominant lead as the most environmentally friendly and socially sustainable cars in the market today with models occupying top four positions out of 385 vehicles evaluated by VCD. The Lexus CT 200h ranked in at number one with a score of 7.83, followed by the Toyota Prius (7.53), Toyota iQ 1.0 VVT-I (7.43), and the Toyota Auris Hybrid (7.33).

The Lexus CT 200h and the Toyota Auris Hybrid came in first and second places in the “Compact Class” while the Toyota Prius was ranked the most environmentally friendly “Family Car”.

The full hybrid Lexus CT 200h placed joint second, and the Toyota Prius and Auris Hybrid tied fourth for lowest environmental impact in terms of CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions for the Lexus CT 200h comes in at just 87 g/km while the Toyota vehicles are rated at 89 g/km.

“I’m pleased to see that this independent report from a respected German organisation confirms Toyota’s environmental leadership in our product line-up,” said Didier Leroy, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe. “It also shows that full hybrid technology, while achieving lower fuel consumption, has a clear advantage over conventional powertrains when it comes to actual environmental impact and other pollutants.”

VCD, a non-profit organisation promoting environmentally and socially sustainable mobility, first published its Environmental Car List in 1989, the year it was founded. The evaluation criteria for the report is based on the following factors: 60% CO2 emissions; 20% noise pollution; 15% harmful emissions (e.g. particulate matters, NO2, NOx); and 5% environmental impact (e.g. NOx). The VCD evaluated 385 vehicle models for its latest report, which excludes all models with CO2 emissions higher than 180 g/km.