Volt wins green prize

DETROIT (AP):

While General Motors Co was seeing greenbacks in its initial public offering on Wall Street Thursday, its Chevrolet brand was burnishing its green credentials.

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt was named the Green Car of the Year Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It was the first electric car to win the prize, which has been given annually since 2005 by the Green Car Journal.

Separately, the Chevrolet brand announced that it's donating US$40 million to locally based environmental projects across the United States with the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 8 million metric tons. That's about the same amount of carbon dioxide emitted in one year by the 1.9 million Chevrolet vehicles expected to sell between now and the end of 2011.

Mike Robinson, GM's vice president for environment, energy and safety, said he thinks the programme is the first of its kind for any automaker.

"This is something Chevrolet wanted to do to distinguish the brand, to say, 'You're buying into a brand that represents a lot more than the fuel economy and the features that you're getting'," Robinson said.