Green Car Journal named Volkswagen’s 2009 Jetta TDI as the “Green Car of the Year” at the Los Angeles Auto Show, making it the first clean-diesel vehicle to win the prize.

The Jetta TDI gets 41 miles per gallon on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. The sedan has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $21,990 and a SportWagen version is available starting at $23,590.

The Jetta bested four other finalists for the Green Car of the Year award: the Smart Fortwo, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the BMW 335d and the Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid.

American Honda Motor Co. has overhauled the look of its fuel cell concept cars, unveiling a futuristic, lightweight three-seater. 

The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain. What’s with the rear side? The extended rear houses cooling radiators for the fuel cell stack. You likey?

Endorsed by all three of the Bay Area’s big city mayors, a $1 billion plan to help make the Bay Area the nation’s electric-car capital plan would provide the re-charging infrastructure that must be in place before most consumers would consider buying or leasing an electric car.

Better Place, Palo Alto start-up, plans to install about 250,000 charging ports, 200 battery-exchange stations and a control center to service Bay Area electric car drivers. The goal is to have most of the system in place by 2012. Nice! Go Green!

Honda Motors Co Ltd released their new hybrid electric vehicle, which will compete with the mainstream hybrid Toyota Prius. Named as Honda Insight, it is a revival of the first ever Honda hybrid. 

At $20,000, it is the first Honda vehicle with an ambitious hybrid strategy. The 2009 Toyota Prius is rated at $22,660. Honda is planning to roll out four new gas-electric hybrid models between 2008-2012 as part of a global strategy.

Can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with next! More photos.

Delicious! The Peugeot RC Hymotion4 is the second mid-engined four-door concept developed by Peugeot since the curious-looking 908RC. Insiders reveal that the 408, as it’s likely to be called, is almost certain to come to market with a diesel-hybrid option.

Now this is what Peugeot needs in its stable!  A great looking, muscular and well-proportioned sports sedan. I want one, even though it’s French.

Honda provides this first official look at the five-door hatch that will be formally unveiled in October at the 2008 Paris auto show. It will technically be a concept, but appears more than production-ready.

The Insight will be smaller than a Civic and CEO Takeo Fukui says it will be priced significantly below current hybrids.

At an expected price tag of $18,500, the new Honda Insight is expected to compete at a much lower price point than any other hybrid on the market.

Thoughts? Click here for more photos.

Honda Civic hybrid, India’s first hybrid car has outshined the company’s sales expectation. The company reportedly sold about 50 hybrid cars since its launch in June, 2008. The company expects to sell more than 200 units of the green car.

Civic hybrid is available in India as completely built unit from Japan, attracting 104% customs duty. It is the hybrid technology that increases the excise duty. The hybrid technology is not only environment friendly, but also 47% more efficient compared to other cars.

Not All Hybrids Created Equally

Of the seven hybrids that ConsumerReports recently tested, they found that three, the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, and Honda Civic Hybrid, save owners money compared with their all-gas alternatives, while others depend on tax breaks to break even.

Overall, hybrid costs range from $4,250 in savings to a $1,750 deficit over five years, compared with their most similar gas counterparts. The Toyota Prius costs thousands more to buy than either the Toyota Corolla or the Toyota Matrix, but it costs less to own than either: $250 less than the Corolla, and $4,250 less than the Matrix 2.4.

Honda of India, Get Ready For Competition

Toyota has confirmed that they are going to launch their Prius model in the Indian market in the coming years. Toyota Prius is the most well known hybrid car in the world and it is also one of the best selling in this segment. Rivals Honda has already become the first automaker in India to launch a hybrid. They recently launched the Honda Civic Hybrid.