AUTOMAKER RANKINGS 2010

The Union of Concerned Scientists' 2010 rankings identify Honda as the greenest automaker for model year 2008, followed closely by Toyota and Hyundai. The report highlights a significant performance gap between these leaders and the 'Detroit Three' (Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler), who consistently rank at the bottom due to lower fuel economy and higher emissions. While government standards have improved smog-forming emissions across the industry, global warming emissions remain a key differentiator. The analysis also examines the impact of hybrid and flexible-fuel vehicles, noting that while Toyota's Prius significantly improves its overall score, flexible-fuel vehicles often serve as a loophole for automakers to meet fuel economy requirements without providing real-world environmental benefits.

• Honda is ranked as the greenest automaker for model year 2008 with an overall score of 86, though it is closely followed by Toyota and Hyundai, who are tied for second place with a score of 87.
• The 'Detroit Three' (Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) consistently perform poorly, ranking at the bottom of the list with pollution levels higher than the industry average. Chrysler is ranked as the worst overall performer.
• Toyota and Volkswagen tied for the lowest smog-forming pollutant emissions in the 2008 assessment, with both fleets averaging 17 percent better than the industry average.
• Honda and Hyundai tied for the lowest global warming emissions. Hyundai showed significant improvement, reducing its fleet average global warming emissions by 11 percent between model years 2005 and 2008.
• The Toyota Prius has a substantial positive impact on Toyota's environmental ranking; without the Prius, Toyota's overall score would have dropped from 87 to 92, moving the company to fourth place.
• Flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) are described as a loophole in federal fuel economy law that allows automakers to earn Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) credits despite the vehicles rarely using alternative fuels in practice.
• Volkswagen's improvement in smog rankings is attributed to the removal of diesel vehicles from its 2008 fleet to meet California emissions regulations, which created a tradeoff by worsening its global warming score.

APA

KLIESCH, J. (2010). AUTOMAKER RANKINGS 2010. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/2010-automaker-report.pdf

Chicago

KLIESCH, JIM. AUTOMAKER RANKINGS 2010. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2010. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/2010-automaker-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=KLIESCH |first1=JIM |title=AUTOMAKER RANKINGS 2010 |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2010 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/2010-automaker-report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kliesch2010automaker, author = {KLIESCH, JIM}, title = {{AUTOMAKER RANKINGS 2010}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2010}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/2010-automaker-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }