LOS ANGELES (AP):

Green Car Journal named Volkswagen's 2009 Jetta TDI as the 'Green Car of the Year' at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Thursday, making it the first clean-diesel vehicle to win the prize.

Green Car Journal, a quarterly magazine that covers developments in environmentally friendly cars and fuel-efficiency, said it is the first time it gave the award to a diesel vehicle.

"I think it signals that clean diesel has arrived," said Ron Cogan, the magazine's editor and publisher. "People have been hearing about this for years and, in fact, Volkswagen didn't have diesels on the market in the United States for a long time."

The Jetta TDI, which Volkswagen debuted in Los Angeles a year ago, gets 41 miles per gallon (5.7-litres per 100 kilometres) on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. The sedan has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $21,990 and a SportWagen version is available, starting at $23,590.

Stefan Jacoby, chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America chief executive, said the company plans to increase production of the car. Although no separate sales figures for the TDI were available, Jetta sales in the first 10 months of the year are up about one per cent to nearly 83,000 vehicles, while auto sales overall have sharply declined.

"I think it's a breakthrough in this country here for clean diesel," Jacoby said. "It's a real alternative, for example, to hybrids. We are very much promoting diesel here in the United States. It brings the fuel consumption down, it's environmentally friendly ... and this is fun to drive."