The Smart Fortwo coupé and cabrio took the top two spots in the Australian government’s inaugural Green Vehicle Guide (GVG), achieving five stars for overall environmental performance.

Not to be outdone, the Smart roadster also achieved a coveted five-star environmental performance rating, ranking fourth overall in the guide.

At present only four vehicles sold in Australia, three of them from DaimlerChrysler’s Smart division, achieve a five star rating for environmental performance.

“Not all vehicles are alike when it comes to environmental performance,” said Peter Fadeyev, the senior manager responsible for Smart in Australia.

“The Green Vehicle Guide gives Australians a chance to consider the environment when purchasing a new vehicle and we are pleased with the environmental performance of the entire range of Smart vehicles,” said Fadeyev.

The new Green Vehicle Guide provides information for each vehicle to help customers determine the level of emissions of different vehicles and consequently their impact on the environment.

The guide includes a Greenhouse Rating based on CO2 emissions and Air Pollution Rating based primarily on emission standards, along with fuel consumption data.

The overall ‘star’ rating, a combination of the greenhouse rating and air pollution rating, is provided to help customers identify vehicles that emit fewer emissions overall.

The five-star rating for environmental performance comes on top of recent results which found that the Smart Fortwo coupé is Australia’s cheapest car to repair following a low speed crash.

The internationally accredited low speed crash test programme, carried out general insurer, NRMA Insurance, showed that the innovative two seater coupé from Smart is 42 per cent cheaper to repair than the average small car.

The Smart Fortwo coupé become the first small car tested by NRMA to fall below 10 per cent in terms of the repair cost as a percentage of its purchase price.

After subjecting 46 of Australia’s top selling cars to a pendulum crash test, replicating a 15km/h collision with a solid barrier or a 30km/h collision into the rear of another vehicle, the Smart Fortwo coupé ended up with the cheapest repair bill outright as well ($2,258).

The Smart model range in Australia consists of the Smart Fortwo coupé, Fortwo cabrio and Smart roadster.