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Research by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the British automotive industry's umbrella body, shows "a dramatic shift" in that country's new car market, with hundreds of thousands of buyers changing to cars with lower CO2 emissions.
The figures show that six out of 10 new cars sold in Britain last year fell within the cleanest brands - those with CO2 exhaust emissions under 165 grams per kilometre - compared with just four out of 10 in 2000.
"There has been a noticeable shift in the new car market," said SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan.
"This is partly due to concerns about motoring costs and partly because reducing their climate change impact is important to more buyers.
"However, we should not underplay significant fuel economy and CO2 savings from technological advances in new models, including premium brands."
In Britain, the cleaner a vehicle's exhaust emissions, the less road tax its owner has to pay. The European Union wants an average of 130g/km of exhaust emissions for all passenger cars within the next few years.
While there has been opposition from carmakers to the 130g/km limit, they are nevertheless moving to build cleaner and more efficient engines.
Ferrari, with its high-speed heritage, is planning to improve its cars' exhaust emissions by making future models lighter and with smaller engines.
It previewed the future at its 60th birthday with the Millechili concept, a two-door 1000mm shorter and 300kg lighter than the supercar Enzo Ferrari. The concept name means 1000kg in Italian, a reference to the car's curb weight.
The Millechili, powered by a twin turbocharged 3-litre V8 engine producing 410kW (550hp) would use 42 per cent less fuel and emit around 250g/km of CO2. The Enzo pours out close to 600g/km.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW are expected to use the Frankfurt motor show in September to highlight greener, more fuel-efficient models due to go on sale in the next few years. Organisers have already applied the theme sustained mobility to the show.
Mercedes-Benz is likely to display 18 such models covering the three main C-, E- and S-Class ranges and offering improved petrol and diesel technology, Bluetec exhaust scrubbing, mild hybrid technology, and fuel-cells.
A C-Class diesel hybrid version is said to be available from 2011 and would use around 5 litres/100km, or 56mpg.
Exhaust emissions from such a vehicle would be below the planned EU limit of 130g/km and would make Mercedes-Benz the first Original Equipment Manufacturer to meet Euro 6 emissions laws in 2014.
Mercedes-Benz is also planning production of a fuel cell-powered B-Class to start in 2010 with a run of 150 cars.
BMW dubs its energy-saving programme Efficient Dynamics, a reminder that it is committed to building driver-focused vehicles.
Its more-efficient engines have already arrived in New Zealand with the updated 1-Series and 5-Series. Regenerative brakes and stop-start functions are due next year.
At the centre of BMW's line-up is a range of optimised four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines and new technologies already unveiled on the 1-series and some 3-Series.
BMW's brake regeneration system will first be revealed on the 1-Series. It will soon make the system standard on the 3-, 5-, 6-series and the X5.
It uses energy created under braking and stores it for later use. BMW reckons that it reduces fuel consumption on the 3-litre diesel X5 by 7 per cent. All-new manual four-cylinder 1-series and 3-series models will get a stop/start function that cuts the engine when in neutral. The 2008 BMW line-up now boasts 22 models that achieve around 5.8 litres/100km, or 48mpg while emitting 140g/km or less of CO2.
The new Mini Cooper, built in Britain using engines developed by parent BMW and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, is 19 per cent better on fuel economy and 16 per cent on CO2 emissions than its predecessor.
Land Rover's new Freelander2 petrol model boasts a 10 per cent improvement on fuel consumption and emissions over the model it replaced, while a new range of fuel-efficient diesels developed and built by Ford and PSA has helped Jaguar cut average exhaust CO2 by 31.5 per cent since 1997.
