Electric cars and hybrids may be capturing headlines and the
imagination of green-leaning consumers around the world as one
automaker after another announces plans to push into the brave
new world of fossil fuel-free mobility. But away from the
spotlight, carmakers have been quietly delivering significant
cuts in CO2 emissions with some re-engineering of internal
combustion engines, technology advances, weight reduction and
aerodynamic improvements. Increasingly stringent fuel economy
standards in Europe and the United States that were mandated due
to climate change concerns have been the main catalyst. Yet with
rising fuel prices and a waxing awareness of global warming,
consumers have also been clamoring for more fuel-efficient
vehicles. "Carmakers have finally gotten the message and have
made a good start in making cuts in CO2 emissions but only after
they were forced to," said Dorothee Saar, an industry analyst at
the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) in Berlin ahead
of the Frankfurt internationa