2008 Geneva Auto Show

More photos at Jalopnik

In 2008, carmakers talk about "biopower" more than horsepower, and green is easily the automakers' favorite color at the International Auto Salon in Geneva, which officially opened March 4. Demand for the smallest cars accounts for 36.5 percent of the West European market, according to J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting, and it is rising as carmakers aim to reduce carbon emissions and avoid European Union penalties by selling smaller models.

Businessweek
by Jack Ewing
The Saab presentation at a lakeside Geneva hotel on the evening of Mar. 3 was just one example of how, with oil prices at record highs and regulators demanding reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, the auto industry is at pains to show it's serious about finding alternatives to petroleum.

Certainly there's a heavy dose of PR in the green claims of carmakers. But there also seems to be a consensus that the end of the gasoline age is within view, and that the auto industry needs to respond more quickly. "We're just at the beginning of this changeover," GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner told reporters. "I think it's going to be big and it could happen faster than we think." Wagoner even raised the possibility that U.S. consumers will be willing to pay premium prices for feature-packed small cars, as Europeans already do.

There is still no industry consensus, though, on what kind of technology will replace gasoline. GM's Lutz is an advocate of ethanol. "No other technology will reduce CO2 and dependence on imported fuel as much as ethanol," he said.

Other automakers are jumping on the hybrid bandwagon. German automaker Daimler (DAI) displayed a prototype Mercedes SUV it calls BlueTEC Hybrid, and also boasted that it has made a technological breakthrough in adapting lithium-ion batteries—commonly used in mobile phones—for automobile use. The technology will appear in the S400 hybrid planned for launch in the coming year, Mercedes said.

Hydrogen hasn't been forgotten either. Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche says he has already test-driven prototype Mercedes cars powered by fuel cells. "They are ready for the market," he told reporters. The problem is that Mercedes needs to mass-produce the cars for them to be affordable, yet there is unlikely to be a large market until drivers have a place they can tank up with hydrogen.