Consumer Reports released their always highly anticipated 2014 10 Best Vehicles report. The list of the best all-around vehicles by category remains the highlight of CR's popular annual Auto Issue, which also includes top used cars, best safety rankings and several other rankings.
And seeing as hybrids are grabbing an ever-increasing chunk of the spotlight these days, we turn our attention CR's 2014 pick for Top Green Car. And the winner is...the Toyota Prius ($24,200) - the 11th consecutive year CR has chosen the Prius in this category.
While we're seeing more and more hybrids come to market, the publication claimed that none of the competitors can match the "combination of affordability, practicality, and fuel efficiency" plus room and hatchback practicality of the Prius.
The CR staff added that the 44 mpg overall it measured is the most it has seen in a five-passenger, non-plug-in vehicle.
The Japanese automaker recently reported that it had sold 6,072,000 hybrids as of December 31, 2013, breaking the six million-unit barrier. A particularly strong 2013 helped push Toyota over the top, with global hybrid sales of 1,279,000 units, compared to 1,219,000 for 2012.
Toyota sold approximately 358,000 hybrids in North America last year, compared to 344,000 the year before. Toyota has sold a total of 2,302,000 hybrids in North America since the first-generation Prius was launched here in 2000.
Since the launch of the first-generation Prius in Japan in 1997, Toyota says its hybrids have resulted in roughly 41 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions, and have saved over 3.9 billion gallons of gasoline.
A completely redesigned Prius is also expected soon, with the promise of achieving as much as 55 mpg. A plug-in version of the fourth-generation Prius is expected to offer at least 10 miles of electric-only range.
The 2014 Top Picks and recommendations scored at or near the top in CR's testing of 260 vehicles, perform well in federal or insurance industry crash tests and have average or better predicted reliability in Consumer Report's latest survey of owners of 1.1 million vehicles.
