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Green Car Journal Names Toyota Camry Hybrid 2007 Green Car of the Year - VIDEO ENHANCED


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Click PLAY button below to watch the complete LA Green Car Press Conference

LOS ANGELES - November 30, 2007: The Toyota Camry Hybrid has been named the 2007 green car of the year by the magazine Green Car Journal.

Four magazine staffers and seven outside judges helped pick the car, which editor and publisher Ron Cogan said "Raised the bar for cars in terms of performance, efficiency and protecting the environment."



The Camry was picked from a field of five finalists, including the Mercedes-Benz E-320 Bluetec clean diesel; Honda Civic GX, which runs on compressed natural gas; Lexus GS 450h Hybrid; and Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid.

The magazine praised the Camry Hybrid for its fuel efficiency -- 40 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.

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"This hybrid variant drives like its traditionally powered cousin, and while a driver is aware of when silent all-electric propulsion makes way to internal combustion power, it's seamless enough to be unremarkable," the magazine said in a statement.

"It's a pleasure to recognize this milestone vehicle as the magazine’s 2007 Green Car of the Year," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal. "Applying Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive technology to a model that’s been the best-selling car in the U.S. for eight of the past nine years makes this hybrid vehicle all the more significant, since the mass market is clearly the target."

"The Camry not only protects the planet, it protects consumers' pocketbooks," says Jason Mark, vehicles director for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "It's one of the most cost-effective hybrids on the market."

Green Car Journal editors reviewed dozens of 2007 model year vehicles to identify those deemed to have raised the bar in environmental performance, which met the award program's rules and would be on sale no later than January 1st, 2007. These included near-zero emission and high fuel economy gasoline vehicles, advanced diesels, vehicles that operate on alternative fuels, and gasoline-electric hybrids. Five were singled out as finalists for 2007 Green Car of the YearŽ award consideration: the natural gas Honda Civic GX, Lexus GS 450h Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC, Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid, and Toyota Camry Hybrid.

For more information about Green Car Journal and the Green Car of he Year awards visit www.greencar.com.