2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid Wins Green Car of the Year

High fuel efficiency, low emissions, and improved environmental performance have never competed on a head-to-head basis with such traditional buying touchstones as safety, performance, functionality, and value. It doesn’t take much thought to figure out why: New car purchases are typically driven by fundamental need or emotional connection. Families require space and versatility, so a five to seven passenger minivan, sedan, or SUV often fits that need. Younger singles want style, something that many coupes or sedans with appealing body styles can fulfill. Others prefer brisk acceleration and crisp handling, or luxury-oriented appointments and a smooth ride. Plenty of models exist to meet these desires as well.

This dynamic is changing. There’s growing recognition that vehicle purchase decisions also serve other needs. These days, that includes keeping fuel costs within budget, an often challenging thing considering sustained high prices at the pump. Others see more efficient vehicles leading toward less dependence on imported oil, or emitting fewer greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Vehicles with near-zero tailpipe emissions also contribute toward better air quality. All of this has driven the auto industry to develop cars, trucks, and SUVs with improved efficiency and environmental performance.

Recognizing leadership in the auto industry amid this activity is important. It’s also the purpose behind Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year award. The notable goal of this Green Car Awards™ program is to identify the most important environmentally positive vehicle of the new model year.

Integral to this is the participation of the nation’s major environmental groups, since their perspective on what makes a groundbreaking “green” car is important to millions of consumers. This year, four Green Car Journal editors, automotive icon Carroll Shelby, and six environmental leaders comprised the 2007 Green Car of the Year jury. They include Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club; Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute; Dr. Alan Lloyd, president of the International Council on Clean Transportation; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society; and Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Green Car Journal editors reviewed 2007 model year vehicles to identify those that offered significant environmental improvement or raised the bar in environmental performance. The five nominees tapped for 2007 Green Car of the Year consideration that met this criteria, the award program’s rules,  and an on-sale date no later than January 1st, 2007, were the 2007 Honda Civic GX, Lexus GS 450h Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC, Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid, and Toyota Camry Hybrid.

After carefully weighing the attributes and importance of each of these deserving vehicles, our jurors confidently tapped Toyota’s new Camry Hybrid as the 2007 Green Car of the Year. This hybrid model brings to the showroom all the features most important to those in the market for an environmentally positive, high fuel efficiency vehicle. It’s stylish, comfortable, features advanced safety systems, and is highly functional with five passenger seating. It also offers very impressive EPA estimated fuel economy of 40 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway, plus near zero emissions with an AT-PZEV certification.

The Green Car Journal staff extends its congratulations to Toyota on an exceptional example of how efficient gasoline-electric hybrid technology can be integrated into a mainstream, best-selling sedan. We’ll follow through with an in-depth test report on our 2007 Green Car of the Year winner in the future.