It looks like Land Rover has finally waked up from its slumber and started to care about fuel economy. Its new Freelander 2 TD4_e compact SUV is equipped with engine start-stop technology, getting quite popular these days.

The 2009 Mercedes-Benz S 320 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, which was just revealed in Paris, sports almost stunning fuel efficiency 33.6 mpg. This is only 7.6 liters of diesel fuel per each 100 km traveled.

BMW plans to unveil its new, environmentally friendly Mini at the Frankfurt Motor Show to be held in September. The diesel version of the car will reportedly feature as low CO2 emissions level as the current Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle.

Fiat will, probably, soon reveal its first hybrid model. Based on the highly popular 500 super mini, the car will feature a tiny two-cylinder engine and will deliver a fuel economy of some 80mpg.

Honda have only just announced a retreat from the petrol-electric hybrid market citing poor sales of their hybrid vehicles in the US. A recent report we came across suggests that there may be more to this than first thought. It would appear that Honda are intending to go the ‘clean diesel’ route and leave the hybrids to Toyota.

Trying to save its sales figures in the U.K., BMW is working on a super-efficient technology that will put its gas-guzzling X5 SUVs beyond the outrageously high CO2 pollution charge.

Porsche rather oddly have declared their disappointment with some European manufacturers of small cars for only reducing CO2 emissions by 2 percent for their category since 2002.

Although being more powerful, the new engine features the same mileage and CO2 emission levels. Pricing also remains the same. At least, in the U.K, starting from £29,910 for the Coupe and £33,510 for the Cabriolet.