Green Is the 2011 LA Auto Show Color of the Year
LOS ANGELES, California, November 16, 2011 (ENS) – Electric vehicles from Ford, Subaru, BMW and Chevrolet are among the more than 50 vehicles that will debut at the 2011 Los Angeles International Auto Show press days, November 16 and 17, and will be presented to the public from November 18 through 27.
During press days, two green awards will be announced – the annual Green Car of the Year award from the “Green Car Journal,” and the Automotive Green Marketer of the Year award, presented by Nielsen, the New York-based measurement and information company.
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Volkswagen Passat TDI clean diesel (Photo courtesy Los Angeles Auto Show) |
The Green Car of the Year is selected by an 11-member panel of automotive and environmental experts. The five finalists for the 2012 award are Ford Focus Electric and Mitsubishi i battery electric cars, the Honda Civic GX natural gas vehicle, the Toyota Prius v hybrid electric car and the Volkswagen Passat TDI clean diesel.
Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota are the finalists for the 2nd annual Nielsen Automotive Green Marketer of the Year award, which recognizes the brand that made the greatest strides in gaining consumer awareness and positively impacting consumer perceptions around the automotive industry’s environmentally-friendly initiatives.
Nielsen research shows that green marketing by auto companies continues to have a positive effect on consumer perceptions, with 51 percent of consumers reporting that green marketing initiatives increased their consideration of the product. This is up 24 percent compared to 2010. Social media discussion about automakers’ green marketing initiatives has also been more positive this year, with a 44 percent increase in positive discussion compared with 2010, according to Nielsen.
The LA Auto Show organizers are working to expand its role as a leading showcase for fuel-efficient vehicles including electric vehicles and other ground-breaking, alternative fuel technologies.
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Ford Focus battery electric vehicle prototype will debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show (Photo courtesy LA Auto Show) |
Debuts at the show include the Ford Focus Electric, the Subaru BRZ STI Concept and the tiny Chevrolet Spark.
The LA Auto Show will present the latest in environmentally-conscious vehicles and journalists will be able to drive more than a dozen of them out onto the streets of Los Angeles on Thursday during the Green Car Ride and Drive.
An increase in fuel efficiency across the board in all categories is a general characteristic of the vehicles on display in Los Angeles. Fifteen highly-efficient, 40-mpg-plus vehicles powered by internal combustion engines will be at the show. They include five clean diesel vehicles from Audi and Volkswagen, the Chevrolet Cruze Eco and Sonic, the Kia Rio, three vehicles from Hyundai – the Accent, Elantra and Veloster – and the Mazda 3 SKYACTIV.
In addition, a renaissance is underway for the four-cylinder engine, a powerplant of choice for many automakers in this era of rising gas prices and concern for fuel economy.
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The all-electric BMW i3 (Photo courtesy LA Auto Show) |
Reengineered to deliver the power and torque that usually comes with larger displacement engines, four cylinder designs are powering compacts and crossovers such as the the Ford Escape and Honda CRV, both of which will debut in Los Angeles.
A host of electric vehicles are in production or just entering production will be featured at the show, including Mitsubishi’s all-electric i, the Ford Focus Electric, BMW’s i3 Concept, CODA’s Sedan, the Toyota RAV4, Nissan’s LEAF and an import from Croatia, the DOK-ING XD. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids continue to grow in popularity.
Highlights at the show include the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid, the new Honda Civic hybrid and the updated Honda Insight hybrid.
BMW will make the first stateside showing of its new BMW i concept vehicles – the all-electric BMW i3 and the i8 plug-in hybrid sports coupe concept car, which features range-extender IC/electric propulsion. These will be the first two vehicles from BMW’s new brand of sustainable vehicles.
“The message this year is very clear,” said Andy Fuzesi, general manager of the Los Angeles Auto Show. “The automotive industry is gaining momentum and the LA Show is an important venue for manufacturers to launch the innovations that are leading the way.”
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2011. All rights reserved.