Green Scores

Green Scores

The Union of Concerned Scientists released its latest report on the environmental performance of the world’s eight largest automakers this week based in 2005 model-year vehicles.

The group assigned each automaker a global warming and a smog score for its performance in limiting emissions of greenhouse gases -- blamed for global warming -- and smog-producing pollutants.

Honda took 1st place for the fourth consecutive report, followed closely by Toyota. Volkswagen was 3rd in its global warming score but near the bottom for smog production. Hyundai-Kia ranked 4th in both categories. Nissan was 3rd in the smog score.

Detroit’s Big Three ranked last. Ford’s smog rating was better than Volkswagen’s. DaimlerChrysler was the worst in both categories.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.