“To qualify for consideration as a nominee, a vehicle must exhibit characteristics that substantially raise the bar in environmental performance and be in production by Jan. 1 of the award year,” said the guidelines on the Green Car Journal Web site. “Plus, a potential nominee must be driven by Green Car Journal to allow experiencing driving dynamics first-hand.” Those qualifying this year were the BMW 335d, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid, Smart Fortwo and Volkswagen Jetta TDI.

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