5:25 am, June 26, 2012
AFTER months of deliberating and judging, Car Dealer can reveal the winners of the Green Apple Awards for Car Dealerships.
Held at The Wintergarden in Canary Wharf, the Green Apple Awards for Car Dealerships – supported by Car Dealer Magazine – marked the culmination of months of judging.
Judged by SMMT chief executive, Paul Everitt, the Green Apple Award for Car Dealerships was won by the JCB Group for their A.W.A.R.E programme.
Standing for Accountable, Worthwhile, Achieveable, Responsible, Environment, it’s a scheme that is designed to provide all dealership staff with a full understanding of the group’s environment policies and thereby to develop new initiatives.
Silver was jointly won by Jemca Toyota Enfield for their brand new multi-million pound eco-friendly showroom, and to Essex Auto Group Ltd for their Energy Management Programme.
Essex Auto Group’s energy saving technology and the use of environmentally sensitive materials during the building of its new dealerships over the past three years earned Essex Auto Group their silver award.
Sandicliffe took bronze for their Energy at Sandicliffe programme which saw the dealer group improve the efficiency of plant equipment to save money, and to permanently reduce kilowatt usage and CO2 emissions across their dealerships.
GREEN CARS
Meanwhile the awards ceremony also saw the greenest cars on sale celebrated.
Taking Green Car Maker of the Year was Chevrolet. Judges were impressed at by the firm’s Volt and at Chevrolet’s attitude that being green does not have to come the cost of owners’ lifestyles. Finishing as runner-up was Renault.
Nissan’s Leaf won Electric Car of the Year with the Renault Fluence finishing as runner-up; the Kia Rio 1 1.1-litre CRDi 85g won Eco City of the Year while Volkswagen’s Up BlueMotion took the runner-up spot.
The Audi A6 2.0-litre TDI won Eco Executive Car of the Year, followed by the bold new Citroen DS5 Hybrid4; Ford’s brand new Focus 1.0-litre EcoBoost earned Eco Family Car of the Year from the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion; and the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 won Eco 4×4 of the Year with the Lexus RX 450h taking silver.
‘The Green Organisation has been going since 1994 and we have always welcomed nominations from the motor industry,’ said event organiser, Richard Collins. ‘This year, with the support of Car Dealer Magazine, we’ve launched an awards scheme specifically for car dealerships.
‘Showrooms are traditionally large and airy places with lots of glass and many are architecturally a horror story. So we decided to reward the ones who have made the biggest effort to reduce any negative eco impact – and it’s my pleasure to reward the dealerships and car manufacturers today.’
A full report will appear in Issue 53 of Car Dealer
