Going Green is Going Global

Washington DC March 2, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that Edward Lapham, Executive Editor of Automotive News, says that for automakers around the world, CO2 emissions, global warming, and the drive to burn less petroleum have become a big product development issue.

At the Geneva auto show next week, companies such as BMW, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and even the once nearly extinct Daihatsu will unveil green vehicles.

Surprisingly, Renate Kuenast, chairman of the Green Party in the German Parliament, has publicly urged Germans to buy the Toyota Prius - not a German-made diesel.

In the United States, demand for gasoline-electric hybrids is flattening, but hybrids seem to be the focus of green groups. The online edition of the advocacy magazine Green Car Journal named the "Top 5 Green Vehicles for 2007," and three are hybrids: the Lexus GS 450h, Saturn Vue Green Line and Toyota Camry Hybrid. The two others are the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec diesel and the natural-gas-burning Honda Civic GX.