Automaker Rankings 2004

The report ranks the 'Big Six' automakers—Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and General Motors—on their environmental performance, focusing on smog-forming and heat-trapping emissions. Honda consistently ranks as the cleanest, while General Motors has fallen to the bottom. The analysis highlights a trend where smog-forming pollution is improving due to regulation, but heat-trapping emissions remain stagnant. It specifically criticizes the use of regulatory loopholes, such as Flex-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) credits, which allow companies to artificially inflate fuel economy figures.

• Honda is the cleanest of the Big Six automakers, maintaining the top rank since 1998. In model year 2003 (MY03), its vehicles produced less than half the industry average for smog-forming pollutants and 18 percent less in heat-trapping gas emissions.
• General Motors (GM) has experienced a steady decline in environmental performance, falling from fourth place in 1998 to last place in 2003. GM was the only company among the six whose vehicles emitted more smog-forming and global warming pollution per vehicle in MY03 than in MY01.
• Nissan moved into second place in 2003, surpassing Toyota. This improvement was driven by certifying all vehicles to meet or beat California's tighter smog standards and shifting sales from SUVs to the more efficient Murano crossover.
• Ford's environmental performance is contradictory; while it ranks second only to Honda in reducing smog-forming emissions across its fleet, it has the worst heat-trapping gas emission performance of the Big Six.
• The automotive industry is utilizing regulatory loopholes to avoid meeting environmental standards. Specifically, Flex-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) credits allow manufacturers to claim higher fuel economy than vehicles actually achieve, as these vehicles rarely operate on alternative fuels.
• There is a significant disparity between the emissions of trucks and cars. In MY03, the average Big Six truck emitted 2.6 times the smog-forming emissions and 1.4 times the global warming pollution of the average car.
• While smog-forming pollution is decreasing due to tighter regulations and early compliance by some automakers, progress on reducing heat-trapping emissions is stagnant, indicating a failure to address climate change despite available technology.
• DaimlerChrysler improved from last place to fifth place due to a modest fuel economy improvement in its trucks and the poor performance of GM, though it remains a significant abuser of the FFV loophole.

APA

Friedman, D., & MacKenzie, D. (2004). Automaker Rankings 2004. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/autorankings2004.pdf

Chicago

Friedman, David, and Don MacKenzie. Automaker Rankings 2004. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2004. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/autorankings2004.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Friedman |first1=David |last2=MacKenzie |first2=Don |title=Automaker Rankings 2004 |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=December 2004 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/autorankings2004.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friedman2004automaker, author = {Friedman, David and MacKenzie, Don}, title = {{Automaker Rankings 2004}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2004}, month = dec, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/autorankings2004.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }