Hot-hatch hat-trick for UK's 'cleanest' car company

For the third year in a row, the Mini Cooper S has been named the best 'hot hatch' on sale in the UK at the annual What Car? awards ceremony.

A mix of brilliant performance, low running costs and high residual values are just some of the reasons for the Mini once again taking the highly-coveted gong, Mini said.

In July last year, the Mini Cooper S won the 'Green Sports Car' category in the What Car? Green Awards 2008. The accolade was recognition of Mini's commitment to manufacturing frugal and fast premium small cars, with minimal cost to the environment.

The efficiency gains and CO2 emission reduction provided by standard fitment of minimalism technology, which includes auto start/stop, brake energy regeneration and shift point display, helped secure another title for the Mini Cooper S ahead of more recently launched competitor models.

Recognition of the strides Mini is making in reducing CO2 emissions across its model range was underlined in research findings published earlier this week by CleanGreenCars.com.

The website released figures which detailed calculations of the average CO2 emissions of each car sold during 2008, therefore reflecting improvements in the emissions of the model ranges on offer, as well as the buying pattern of the market.

The cleanest car manufacturer of 2008 was found to be Mini at 137.24 g/km, while the industry average CO2 emission figure stood at 158.7g/km.

Mini's average CO2 output improved by an impressive 6.8 per cent in 2008. Further improvements will be achieved across the range when the new Mini Convertible is launched on March 28, meaning CO2 emissions from a Mini will be as low as 104 g/km for the Mini Cooper D and no higher than 153 g/km for the sporty Mini Cooper S Convertible.

According to www.clean greencars.com, the top 10 cleanest manufacturers by CO2 emissions in the UK during 2008 were Mini, Fiat, Peugeot, Toyota, Citroen, Skoda, Hyundai, Daihatsu, Renault, and Ford.