AUDI A3 TDI

At the LA Auto Show this morning, Audi's A3 TDI was crowned the 2010 Green Car of the Year, wresting the title away from last year's winner, the Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Even thought three hybrids made this year's list of finalists, the A3's win marks the second year in a row that a TDI diesel car took top honors in the Green Car Journal competition.

The judges selection kind of meshes with AutoblogGreen readers, who overwhelmingly picked the VW Golf TDI from the list of five finalists. The other contenders were the Honda Insight, the Mercury Milan Hybrid (we still don't get why this car beat out the better-selling and nearly identical Ford Fusion hybrid) and the Toyota Prius.

Each year, Green Car Journal picks the five finalists and then hands over selection duty to celebrity jurors (Jay Leno, Carroll Shelby, and the Sierra Club's Carl Pope, to name a few). During the award ceremony, Green Car Journal editor Ron Cogan said that the five finalists are notable because they are all mainstream vehicles that are available today. They exist because that's what the market is asking for. Whaddya think? Is the A3 TDI this year's rightful Green Car of the Year?