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Green-Car-Guide.com is completely independent – we genuinely want ALL manufacturers to give us greener cars. However, as 2007 draws to a close we feel there is one manufacturer in particular who deserves special credit for making an amazing effort to bring more efficient cars to market, across a range of models.
When we launched our site together with our Green-Car-Guide e-Book in September 2006 it contained the most economical 68 cars available in the UK, in ten different categories – and a certain manufacturer had just one of its models in our Guide. In the January 2008 version, available on our site today, the same manufacturer has an incredible 12 cars in the guide out of a total of 68. This is a fantastic achievement and for this reason we are delighted to award BMW our Greenest Manufacturer of the Year Award – for their BMW and MINI brands.
Interestingly, BMW has not gone down the hybrid route so far, but has instead focused on making their existing conventional petrol and diesel engine technology more efficient – under the label of ‘EfficientDynamics’. This means that businesses, and individuals who appreciate cars that are great to drive, can finally choose green cars that aren’t slow, ugly and quirky. A quick review of some of the company’s cars shows why you should take note of what BMW is doing: MINI Cooper D, 72.4mpg; MINI Cooper Clubman D, 68.9mpg; BMW 318d 60.1mpg; BMW 520d 55.4mpg. And BMW is also the first manufacturer to series produce on the production line a liquid hydrogen powered luxury car in the shape of the Hydrogen 7 Series.
Commenting on the award, Mark Harrison, BMW’s Corporate Communications Manager, said: “BMW is very proud of our EfficientDynamics technologies. The successes of both our BMW and MINI brands are built on the fact that they are great to drive, rewarding to own, and have strong design and engineering foundations. It is vital for both us, and many UK car buyers, that our environmental developments do not reduce those values. As a company, we have been working on hydrogen power, fuel-efficient engines and the introduction of lightweight technologies for over 20 years. The recent introduction of EfficientDynamics features brings our work to today’s roads. It offers fuel consumption and emissions levels comparable to, and in some cases better than, today’s hybrids, but retains the dynamic qualities that one would expect of both BMWs or MINIs. We are pleased that Green-Car-Guide.com has recognised our work and we are committed to remaining as a leading car manufacturer in the battle to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.”
2007 will surely be remembered as the year in which the motor industry finally made quantum leaps towards increased recognition of the urgent need for vastly improved energy efficiency. 2008 promises to be a year when the momentum will increase yet further.
For ourselves, 2007 has been a phenomenal year. Our site was only launched in September 2006, but in the last year we’ve been on TV, on the radio, worked with a variety of the national media, we’ve given talks about green cars at numerous events around the UK, and we’ve had around one million page views of our site.
So we’d like to wish all our visitors Merry Christmas and a Green New Year, and we’ll be back in January with more green car news and features, and an announcement about an exciting Green Motor Show.
