Detroit Making Nice with Green Consumers

Automakers have emphasized fuel efficiency for years, but now they’re beginning to market their cars as good for the environment too.

Oil companies and rental car companies are also getting in on the action, The New York Times reports (via Environmental Leader).

Chevrolet, for example, sent a fleet of 60 ethanol-compatible S.U.V.s to transport people and equipment to and from the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall, claiming, “Going green never looked so good.”

Ford’s Focus car was recently granted the EPA’s SmartWay seal, and Ford is highlighting the designation in brochures that dealers hand out. “It isn’t that we are changing course from gas mileage to concern for the environment,” Kristen Kinley, who handles environmental communications for Ford, is quoted as saying. “But the two go hand in hand, and the E.P.A. designation for the Focus was a good fit for marketing and point-of-sale materials.”

Honda, too, is getting into the act. The company’s current campaign, called Environmentology, tries to position Honda as the “most fuel-efficient auto company in America” as well as one that is “committed to developing environmentally responsible technology.”