LOS ANGELES -- The all-new 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas – the only factory-built, CNG-powered car produced in America – was named 2012 Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Nov. 17. The annual award, presented by the editors of Green Car Journal, recognizes outstanding environmental performance.

The Civic Natural Gas beat out four other Green Car of the Year award finalists: the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v, and 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI. The Green Car of the Year award recognizes vehicles that become available by Jan. 1 of the award year.

The four other finalists for the award were the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v, and 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI. The Green Car of the Year award recognizes vehicles that become available by Jan. 1 of the award year.the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v, and 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI. The Green Car of the Year award recognizes vehicles that become available by Jan. 1 of the award year.the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v, and 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI. The Green Car of the Year award recognizes vehicles that become available by Jan. 1 of the award year.

"The Civic Natural Gas is not only a great vehicle, it also demonstrates Honda's commitment to provide a variety of alternatives to gasoline," said Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing at American Honda Motor Co. "The Civic Natural Gas and the all-new Fit EV that we introduced yesterday at the Los Angeles Auto Show are the latest additions to a rapidly expanding family of alternative energy Honda vehicles aimed at cutting petroleum use and reducing our carbon footprint."

Honda is expanding its network of Civic Natural Gas retail outlets to 200 dealers in 36 states. Previously, retail sales of the natural gas-powered Civic had been limited to four states – California, New York, Utah and Oklahoma. The 2012 Civic Natural Gas went on sale on Oct. 18 with a manufacturer's suggested retail price starting at $26,155.

With multiple benefits including lower fuel costs and extremely low smog-forming emissions, the 2012 Civic Natural Gas currently qualifies for a state-issued decal allowing single-occupant access to High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) "carpool" lanes in California and several other states.

The Civic Natural Gas engine produces almost zero smog-forming emissions and is the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Tier-II, Bin-2 and ILEV certification as of August 2010).

Honda Manufacturing of Indiana LLC (HMIN) produces all Honda Civic Natural Gas models.