Ethical Consumer rates 29 Car Brands

Ethical Consumer has released a new report on the social and environmental records of 29 car brands. With so much of the press about cars concentrating on emissions of individual vehicles little attention is paid to car manufacturers' impact on human rights, or even overall environmental performance.

Peugeot Citroen and Proton emerge as the top companies for corporate responsibility. Each gains an 'ethiscore' of 8.5, rated on social, ethical and environmental performance (see Notes). By contrast Toyota, regularly lauded in green circles due to the hybrid Prius, scored a poor 3.5, third from the bottom of the rating table. Toyota is criticised for a joint venture producing vehicles used by the military of the notorious Burmese dictactorship, as well as for sacking over 200 workers in the Philippines in 2006 during a dispute over union recognition. And despite its green image Toyota has been criticised only last year for lobbying against fuel efficiency legislation in the US.

Overall Best Buys are the Citroen C1 and Peugoet 107, while the VW Polo 1.4 TDI with DPF Bluemotion gets top ranking for CO2 emissions, beating the Toyota Prius.

Brand rated: Citroen, Peugeot, Proton, Kia, Hyundai, BMW, Mini, Nissan, Subaru , Suzuki, Mazda, Daihatsu, Fiat, Honda, Renault, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Smart Car, Ford, Volvo, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Land/Range Rover, Saab, Vauxhall.

Company Groups: PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Proton Holdings Bhd, Hyundai Motor Company, BMW, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Fuji Heavey Industries Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corp., Mazada Motor Corp., Daihatsu Motor, Fiat SpA, Honda motor Co Ltd., Renault SA, Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company, Mitsubishi Motors, Toyota Motor Corp, Tata Group, General Motors Corporation.

Ethical Consumer magazine issue 114 (September/October 2008) contains, in addition, ratings on green electricity tariffs and rice brands.

Order issue 114 online.

Alternatively a PDF of the report plus details of all the company criticisms from our database used to rate the brands is available to download for £3.

NOTES TO JOURNALISTS

Free copies of all reports from Ethical Consumer magazine issue 114 are available to journalists on request.

Press enquiries:

Please contact Ethical Consumer on 0161 226 2929 or email dan@ethicalconsumer.org.

Ethical Consumer...

is the UK's leading alternative consumer organization

maintains the most comprehensive database of corporate ethics in the world - tracking over 30,000 companies, compiled over 20 years, updated daily by dedicated researchers

employs a unique ethical scoring system - ethiscore - constantly informed by the leading edge of campaign groups

is a not-for-profit worker's co-operative completely independent of corporate interests

Ethical Consumer's unique ethiscore system rates companies on their social, ethical and environmental performance. Companies are rated in over twenty categories across four main headings - Environment, Human rights, Animal rights, Politics. Products are then rated for their positive ethical and sustainability features.