What Car? Gives BMW & MINI a Green Light Award for “EfficientDynamics”

Official BMW Group (UK) Press Release: BMW Group has won What Car?’s coveted Green Award. With EfficientDynamics introduced across the BMW and MINI model ranges as standard in 2007, What Car? rewarded BMW’s efforts with one of most coveted awards in the UK automotive calendar. The UK’s self-styled new car buyers’ bible also announced its 2006 car of the year, the BMW 3 Series, as its ‘Best Compact Executive’ car for the third year in a row. MINI Cooper S retained its ‘Best Hot Hatch’ trophy.

News of the triple win comes soon after What Car? had commended BMW’s EfficientDynamics programme in a special ‘Green Heroes’ overview of 2007 that looked at 45 ‘planet saving cars’ you could buy today. Between BMW and MINI, the Group’s products were the ‘Best Buy’ choice in six of the fifteen categories, and a recommended choice with four more models. By comparison no other car manufacturer took more than one ‘Best Buy’ slot.

Steve Fowler, Group Editor at What Car? said: “Nobody has done more than BMW and MINI to bring low CO2 cars to all car buyers over the past year, from the 104g/km MINI Cooper D to the BMW X5 3.0sd which sits in a tax band lower than most other large 4x4s. While other car makers are still talking about reducing the CO2 output of their cars, BMW and MINI have already done it and those cars are on sale now.”

Stefan Krause, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing, commented: “The BMW Group is delighted to be honoured for its EfficientDynamics programme by such a respected motoring publication. I believe the car industry is taking great strides in addressing its environmental responsibilities and we are proud that our own developments have been recognised by the team at What Car?”

News of the awards comes soon after BMW was honoured for its EfficientDynamics measures outside the UK. The first ever ‘Green Steering Wheel’ award for environmental excellence in the automotive industry was presented to BMW by Bild am Sonntag, Germany’s best-selling newspaper. BMW also recently won environmental awards from Austrian motoring organisation ARBÖ and AutoScout24, Europe’s biggest online car market. Back in the UK, and Car magazine also awarded BMW with its ‘Green Award’ in 2007 based on the EfficientDynamics programme that reduces emissions and fuel consumption, but adds power and performance.