In an ironic twist a car with a non-hybrid, diesel powertrain has taken the NY International Auto Show‘s World Green Car of the Year Award.

From the press release:  Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today the BlueMotion product brand consisting of the:  Golf, Passat, and Polo, was declared the 2010 World Green Car of the Year by the World Car of The Year organization.

The Volkswagen BlueMotion models were awarded Green Car of The Year by 59 World Car jurors from 25 countries throughout the world.  The 59 member jury awarded the BlueMotion product brand over two other finalists in the 2010 World Green Car award: the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius.

Jurors felt that, “It is not necessary to add an electric motor and a heavy battery pack to achieve class-leading efficiency. Based on Volkswagen’s common-rail diesel engines, the BlueMotion models are among the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the market. In fact, the Passat BlueMotion can travel just about 1,000 miles on one tank of fuel in the European cycle. As far as internal combustion engines go today, these models are the ultimate you can get.”

The award was received at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday morning.

source: prnewswire