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The world's carmakers and suppliers will try to outdo each other to show how green they are at next week's Frankfurt motor show, where German companies Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi will use their home show to highlight fuel-saving technologies such as diesel and petrol-electric hybrid powertrains, brake regeneration and stop-start.
Even sports car maker Porsche will be in the running, unveiling its Cayenne off-roader with a petrol-electric powertrain.
Volkswagen and Ford will show fuel-sipping cars that will be marketed under green-sounding labels. Ford's will be sold under the ECOnetic name and VW's under its BlueMotion label.
Germany's carmakers have been strongly criticised by some of the country's politicians for not doing enough to promote cars that have low CO2 emissions.
The European automotive industry is under growing pressure to reduce the environmental impact and European Union lawmakers plan to introduce regulations to limit CO2 emissions from 160 grams a kilometre to 130gr/km by 2012.
VW will also take the covers off its Tiguan, the compact all-wheel-drive wagon which arrives in New Zealand next year. And Ford will be offering the Kuga, another light-duty all-wheel-drive compact with a hybrid diesel-electric engine. The Kuga, based on the Ford Focus platform, will be built in Germany.
So-called compact all-wheel-drives, or crossovers, are one of the fastest-growing car segments worldwide. The latest generation - which includes the Nissan Qasqai and the Renault Koleos - combines four-wheel-drive and limited off-road capabilities with handling closer to a passenger car.
Carmakers are positioning the smaller models as greener alternatives to the bigger, gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs) used mostly for daily urban trips.
Europe's recent Citroen C-Crosser is available only with frugal diesel engines. It has a particulate filter that traps exhaust soot and is greener than many mainstream cars.
Even to the uninitiated, the difference between the workhorse Land Rover Defender and an Audi Q7 or a Porsche Cayenne are obvious. The last two are luxury vehicles with corresponding prices.
But in between these two ends of the market, a whole range of models will vie for family car buyers who want not only room for the children and a dog but also some fun and style.
Jonathon Poskitt, of J. D. Power Automotive Forecasting, said the market for compact all-wheel-drive models could make up 10 per cent of the European market by 2010. "Rather than the full-size SUVs that we would associate with higher CO2 emissions, we expect the growth in the SUV body-type to come from smaller and medium-size SUVs where CO2 emissions would be much closer to their conventional car equivalents than the large models."
J. D. Power put this year's SUV market at 1.5 million vehicles in Europe or 8 per cent of the total 18.3 million. Of this, 0.6 per cent is for small SUVs, 2.4 per cent for large ones and 5.3 per cent for medium. By 2010, the SUV segment is expected to be 10.1 per cent, with the medium growing to 7 per cent but large slipping to 2.2 per cent.
By 2014, the SUV segment could become 11.2 per cent, with medium-size cars at 7.6 per cent and big ones 2 per cent, in a total European new-car market of 21.9 million vehicles.
One of the smallest SUVs in Europe is the Suzuki SX4, built in Hungary and also sold as the Fiat Sedici (Italian for 16 or 4x4) and Lancia Pangea.
But even the smaller ones provoke the ire of environmentalists. "Almost every one of the 21 auto manufacturers now offer a 4x4," says Blake Ludwig, campaign director at Britain's Alliance Against Urban 4x4s lobby group.
He said the growth of the market was attributable to aggressive advertising. "We also see more successful middle-class people wanting to make a statement about aspiration and success and, unfortunately, the SUV seems to be that emblem for many."
Although the smaller vehicles are more efficient than others, Ludwig says a 4x4 always has "a lethal combination of extra height, extra weight due to the poor design, sometimes extra width, a larger and thirstier engine, and decreased visibility through the rear window.
"We feel that if someone sincerely needs a four-wheel-drive vehicle then they should consider at the least one of the leaner 4x4s, such as the Honda CRV or the RAV4." The alliance has used test dummies to draw attention to the safety risks of large SUV vehicles in school areas.
In France, the Les Degonfles ("deflated") action group slashed tyres of large SUVs, leading to arrests.
Greenpeace, which broadcast a commercial in Britain that depicted a SUV owner as an office outcast, wants to highlight the dangers and fuel consumption of SUVs and has high hopes of stricter EU fuel consumption rules.
"This is unsustainable technology," Greenpeace Germany official Guenter Haubmann said. "We have to stop just adding weight, power and emissions to cars and we also have to stop the increasing militarisation of the European roads." He was referring to GM's Hummer, which is based on military transporters.
"Of course, there can be different car designs to serve different modes of auto mobility and a van can be useful to transport a family of seven.
"But, in the end, we need to make sure that we have cars that use as little resources as possible - both in the manufacturing as in its use."
- Further reporting, agencies
* Motoring editor Alastair Sloane will report from the Frankfurt motor show next week.
