In what is starting to become an annual event, Honda was named as the "Greenest Automaker" by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The title was bestowed upon the company for the fifth time due to the low levels of smog and greenhouse gas emissions produced by its cars.

UCS, a science-based nonprofit advocacy group, released a study which calculated the effects of the company's cars - based on miles per gallon, on global warming. The research looked into figures from eight automakers, which when combined, accounted for about 92 percent of the vehicles sold in the US for the 2008 model year. According to the study, "selling a modest number of clean and efficient models" would not be enough to be considered a green automaker.

The Automaker rankings took into account real-world environmental performance. The study ranked automakers according to the emissions produced by the entire fleet of vehicles that it sold and the average per-mile smog pollution produced. The industry average was pegged at a score of 100. The lower the score, the less pollution an automaker produces.

The research showed that Honda edged out rivals Toyota and Hyundai by just one point. Honda was declared the leader with a score of 86. Toyota and Hyundai each scored an 87. Volkswagen was fourth with the score of 90. Nissan was fifth with a score of 93. American automakers Ford (108), General Motors (109) and Chrysler (113) rounded out the tally.