Volkswagen takes the over top prize, in this years 5th annual, green Apple Awards held at the Houses of Parliament.

VOLKSWAGEN has won the top Green Apple Award for the way one of its models is both environmentally friendly and good to drive. 

The awards are made by The Green Organisation, a not for profits group which invites entries from all parts of industry, presented at the Houses of Parliament each autumn.

Midland Group of Motoring Writers members are asked to choose winners in the automotive part of the Green Apple Awards.

Overall winner in 2015 - the fifth year of the awards - is the Volkswagen Golf GTE, which is powered by a combination of petrol engine and electric motor.

The award was made at a ceremony in the terrace pavilion of the Houses of Parliament today (Monday 16 November).

The Golf GTE beat another VW Group car, a Skoda Fabia diesel into second place overall.

One Midland Group judge said of the winning Golf GTE: "It’s engineered like a Volkswagen, feeling solid and safe, while the hybrid system returns some superb figures when driven like a hybrid should be. 

For those days where there’s an empty country road, it turns in to a proper GTi, handling the extra weight with aplomb and proving you don’t need to make many compromises to produce a viable green choice."

The awards, which also features a SEAT model from another arm of the VW Group, comes at a time when Volkswagen is embroiled in a huge emissions scandal, starting in the United States

Midland Group chairman Ian Donaldson told the guests at the awards ceremony: "Twelve months ago it would have sounded like the plot of a bad Hollywood movie to suggest one of the world's biggest car companies might be involved in skulduggery on such a scale that the news bounced round the world, saw share prices tumble and a chief executive retire with a stain on his reputation.

"Today the VW emissions scandal rumbles on as lawyers and law makers work on bringing the culprits to book and ensuring we learn something from the debacle.

"I will leave the court cases to the legal teams who must, as we speak, be rooting out evidence for actions that are going to keep my learned friends busy for years."

He added: "What we can say with some certainty is that the way all car companies approach the measurement of the gases that come from the exhaust pipes of the cars they build will be changed to be more representative of the real world.

"That's being addressed by - you've guessed - an official committee. But they have been taking their time. I expect the VW rumpus has acted as a hurry up call. I hope so."

Category winners of the 2015 Green Apple Awards

Superminis

Winner: Mazda2 1.5 Skyactiv-D

Runner-up: Suzuki Celerio 1.0 Dualjet

Smaller family cars

Winner: Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI

Runner-up: Citroen C4 Cactus 1.6 BlueHDi.

Larger family cars

Winner: BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics

Runner-up: SEAT Leon 1.6 TDI Ecomotive

Smaller SUVs

Winner: Dacia Duster 1.5 dCi

Runner-up: Nissan Qashqai 1.5 dCi

Electric hybrids or pure electric vehicles

Winner: Volkswagen Golf GTE

Runner-up: Tesla Model S

Executive cars

Winner: Audi A6 2.0 TDI Ultra

Runner-up: Jaguar XF diesel

Green Apple champion for 2015

Winner: Volkswagen Golf GTE

Runner-up: Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI