World Car of the Year Awards

a. Tailpipe emissions equal to or better than California SULEV or US EPA Tier 2, Bin2, or Euro V regulations, or equivalent.

b. Fuel consumption equal to or lower than 5.0 L/100km (47.6 mpg US) combined (55% City + 45% Highway) or equivalent.

c. Use of an advanced powerplant technology aimed specifically at increasing the vehicle's environmental responsibility (e.g. - hybrid)

A panel of three “green” experts was chosen by the World Car Steering Committee to first review all documentation associated with each “green” candidate, then establish a short-list of eight recommendations for the jury. Jurors then voted on the eight recommendations. The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated all ballots to first determine the finalists, and finally the winner.

The three “green” experts were in alphabetical order:

Yasuhiko Kawamura: a contributor to Japan’s Car and Driver magazine, Motor Magazine, Car Graphic, Rosso, Web Car Graphic, and autobytel-japan.com. Kawamura is consulted by Japanese manufacturers whenever they require a critique on new product, whether it be hybrid, fuel cell or gasoline powered. He is a mechanical engineering graduate from Japan's Kogakuin University and votes on the Japan Car of the Year jury panel.

James Kliesch: a Research Associate with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the author and principal vehicle analyst of ACEEE’s Green Book® Online, the pre-eminent U.S. buyer’s guide to environmentally friendly vehicles. He has worked on an array of energy-related topics, including computer modeling of vehicle emissions, vehicle lifecycle assessments, and CO2 emissions trend analyses.

Dr. Ferdinand Panik: the former Vice-President of DaimlerChrysler AG and head of the Group’s strategic fuel cell project. Under his management, the first fuel cell cars running on hydrogen and methanol were set up, as well as the first commercial demonstration vehicles (buses and vans) powered by fuel cells. Dr. Ferdinand Panik initiated the cooperative ventures of DaimlerChrysler with carmaker Ford and with fuel cell producer Ballard Power Systems, e.g. the “California Fuel Cell Partnership”. Since 2003 he is Professor for Alternative Vehicle Concepts at the University of Applied Science in Esslingen in Germany.