American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has been recognized for its environmental leadership by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) in its recent "Greenest Vehicles of 2005" list. In the organization's annual ranking of environmental friendliness, Honda earned the top spot with its natural gas powered Civic GX and four of the top twelve spots with the Insight in second place, the Civic Hybrid in fourth and the Honda Civic HX tied for seventh. In addition, the all-new 2005 Odyssey minivan earned top marks in its respective category. This is the fifth year in a row that a Honda vehicle receives the number one ranking in this study and the fourth consecutive year that Honda vehicles hold at least four positions in the top twelve.
"Honda is proud to receive this recognition from ACEEE," said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "As part of our commitment to being a company that society wants to exist, Honda recognizes that it has an ongoing responsibility to the protection of the environment."
Using a singular measure that incorporates air pollution and global warming impacts, all vehicles are analyzed and given a "Green Score." This score is used in ACEEE's ranking system, resulting in a ranking of a vehicle's total environmental performance, including a list of the 12 "greenest" and 12 "meanest" vehicles.
"Once again, Honda is prominent among the "greenest" and absent from the "meanest." said Therese Langer, Transportation Program Director for ACEEE.
This environmental recognition adds to the accolade that Honda has received recently from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which recognized Honda as the "Greenest Automaker" in its most recent biennial ranking of corporate environmental performance, making the Honda/Acura vehicle fleet, among the six largest volume manufacturers, the fleet with the lowest average emission levels and highest average fuel economy. Honda has a long history of environmental leadership including the introduction of America's first hybrid, the Honda Insight, and the first vehicles to meet stricter emissions standards, including:
- The first gasoline Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV), the 1996 Honda Civic.
- The first gasoline Ultra-Low Emissions vehicle (ULEV), the 1998 Honda Accord.
- The first gasoline Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV), the 2000 Honda Accord.
- The first Advanced Technology Partial-Zero Emissions Vehicle (ATPZEV), the 2001 Civic GX natural gas vehicle.
The Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid captured four of the top five spots in the EPA's 2004 fuel economy rankings and with the introduction of the Accord Hybrid, Honda become the only automaker to offer U.S. customers three distinct hybrid models and the first company to offer a V6-powered hybrid.
For more information or downloadable high-resolution images of Honda award winners and other Honda vehicles, please visit www.hondanews.com. Consumer information is available at www.hondacars.com.
