Honda Greenest, GM Dead Last In Clean Auto Technology - UCS

[hatrack]

DETROIT - Japanese automakers produce the cleanest-burning vehicles and they were led in the 2003 model year by Honda Motor Co., while General Motors Corp. placed dead last, a US environmental group said on Tuesday. "When the rubber meets the road, Honda stands out as the greenest automaker," said Don MacKenzie, a vehicles engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

He spoke on a conference call as the group -- an independent, nonprofit alliance of more than 100,000 scientists and other activists -- presented its biennial report on the pollution performance of vehicles produced by the six largest automakers in the US market.

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Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. placed second in the rankings for the 2003 model year and Toyota Motor Corp. was third, followed by Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. "In sharp contrast to Honda, today we're naming General Motors public polluter No. 1 when it comes to emissions generated by automakers," said MacKenzie. "GM has gone from being the best of the (Detroit) Big Three to the worst automaker overall in our rankings," he said.

The report said GM, the world's largest automaker, was the only one to produce vehicles that emit more smog and heat-trapping gases in the 2003 model year than they did in the 2001 model year. GM spokeswoman Joanne Krell disputed the report's methodology, however, saying it penalized automakers who build more large trucks as part of their vehicle lineup."

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http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28470/story.htm

[IrateCitizen]

1. The GM spokeswoman's response floors me...

GM spokeswoman Joanne Krell disputed the report's methodology, however, saying it penalized automakers who build more large trucks as part of their vehicle lineup.

Ummm... it's a fact that large trucks produce more smog-inducing and heat-trapping gases, is it not? Then, by that logic, an automaker who focuses more on these product lines would in turn produce more greenhouse gases and pollution, would it not?

It's like she's saying, "The report is erroneous because it penalizes us for producing more vehicles that pollute than our competitors do." Do these "spokespeople" really think we're that stupid?

[sakabatou]

2. The Japanese

still the best for the enviroment with cars and other vehicles.