It’s the 2015 Volkswagen Golf, according to Green Car Reports.
Their Best Car To Buy award can go one of several ways.
Sometimes it goes to a moonshot car, like the first Nissan Leaf (in 2011) or the Tesla Model S (in 2013).
Those are cars that radically redefined what green transportation could be, changing the auto industry forever.
Other years, the winners are more evolutionary–but are likely to have a bigger impact in sheer numbers of buyers.
Those included the expanded Toyota Prius hybrid range (in 2012) and last year’s winner, the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid.
This year, the nominees for 2015 were all largely evolutionary.
The Audi A3 TDI is an all-new version of the aging A3 diesel, while the Honda Fit is the latest generation of our favorite subcompact.
The Hyundai Sonata Eco is a new higher-mileage model of the redesigned mid-size sedan, and the Kia Soul EV is an electric version of the popular compact tall wagon.
But it was the last nominee–the 2015 Volkswagen Golf range–that editors chose as the winner this year. It’s also the car the readers’ poll selected as well.
The 2015 Golf range is Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy (and the first European brand winner since the award started five years ago).