Land Rover lead the charge

NEW LAND ROVER LRX

This new car marks Land Rover's first foray into the greener technologies market and is as such a serious statement of intent (backed by a £27 million grant from the Labour government).

The LRX, on sale in 2011, will be the first car in the company's 40-year history to offer two-wheel-drive. The reasoning here is to bring down the car's CO2 emissions to a predicted 130g/km, making it the most fuel efficient Range Rover ever with an expected 50mpg.

Land Rover however are not alone in showing the world that premium brands are serious about going green.

NEW LEXUS RX 450H SUV

Lexus trailblazed the introduction of hybrid off-roaders to the market and the hybrid new RX 450h SUV is the second generation of the luxury off-roader.

More interesting perhaps are the company's plans for a small A1- and Mini-challenging hatchback, the CT 200h. This will be the first hatchback in its class to feature hybrid technology and is expected to arrive here in early 2011.

German rivals BMW and Audi are also embracing greener technology. BMW's Hydrogen 7 is the world's first hydrogen production car, currently undergoing real world trials.

NEW BMW 320d EFFICIENT DYNAMICS

The company's hybrid concept, the ActiveHybrid 5, was also featured at Geneva earlier this year.

Both cars offer great potential for the future. At the moment however the new BMW 320d EfficientDynamics saloon has been attracting media attention.

This new car recently undertook a 1,000 mile road trip on a single tank of fuel, managing nearly 70mpg and emissions of only 109g/km. This car also boasts a very sporty 0-60 time of 8.2 seconds.

NEW AUDI A8 E-TRON

Audi meanwhile is planning to sell 1,000 all-electric versions of its R8, dubbed the R8 e-tron. This 2012 supercar is the company's first all-electric model. With a 0-60 time of under five seconds and a range of 154 miles, it should give the likes of the Tesla Roadster a real run for its money.

More importantly, expect to see an e-tron version of the new A1 at some point as Audi endeavours to bring its technology to the mass market.

Porsche, Ferrari and even Bentley are also making inroads into the green market.

NEW GREEN BENTLEY

Bentley's Continental Supersports is the first of its cars to feature FlexFuel, a technology that lets the vehicle run on biofuel or petrol (or even both at the same time).

Perhaps the most impressive display of fast green technology comes in the astonishing form of the Porsche 918 Spyder concept, a plug-in hybrid that emits a very frugal 70g/km of CO2, does 94mpg but only takes 3.2 seconds to hit 60mph.

Such claims might sound like science fiction but in order to survive, maintain their brands and avoid being fined by the EU, premium brands have to deliver the green dream to customers in the most palatable forms possible.

And it would seem that they are set to succeed, which can only be good news for us keen motorists.