The decision was taken based on more than ten criteria, the main one being “Life Cycle Cost”. Worthy opponents included the Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Econetic and the Nissan Leaf, but the Lexus excelled in most of the categories.
The CT 200h is the company’s first and only premium compact hybrid, aimed at a younger audience. It was originally created to cater to European needs, but has since been introduced in other markets like the US and Japan. It is also well equipped, being fitted as standard with a Smart Key system with push-button Start/Stop and touch sensors on exterior front-door handles, leather-wrapped steering wheel, a six-speaker audio system with steering wheel audio controls, MP3/WMA capability, CD player, and Bluetooth for phone and music streaming capabilities, integrated XM satellite radio receiver, USB/iPod ports, 16-inch aluminum alloy wheels, heated front seats and dual zone automatic climate control.
The “Clean Car of the Year Award” award is given by a joint venture of two influential Belgian automotive publications (Le Moniteur Automobile and Fleet, the Belgian), the automobile club VAB and the circuit of Zolder. The jury, consisting of specialists in the durable mobility domain, split the award into two categories, City and Fleet. This year is the first that the prize has been awarded.
The nine cars nominated in the fleet category were:
- Audi A4 2.0 TDI
- Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Econetic
- Lexus CT200h
- Mitsubishi ASX 1.8 Di-D 2WD
- Nissan Leaf
- Peugeot iOn
- Skoda Superb Greenline 1.6 TDI
- Volvo V50 1.6D DRIVe
- VW Passat Variant 1.6 TDI Bluemotion
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