Frankfurt (Hybrid) Motor Show

Dual-power technology was driven through the doors of the huge German complex in a way that has never been seen before.

This year's Frankfurt Motor Show could almost have been renamed the Frankfurt Motor and Hybrid Show. It is an extraordinary situation. The hybrid is not a truly world technology solution, and it is regarded by much of the international motor industry as a necessary burden to meet California emissions requirements for particular needs in a few major cities and to demonstrate a responsible attitude to major environmental issues.

By its very essence, the full hybrid is a compromise, adding weight and cost to vehicles and diverting R&D work and funds that might be spent more effectively on finding solutions to conventional powertrain issues. But it is certainly a way of making large- and medium-size SUVs and MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles) more acceptable, offsetting what, to some, is a fuel-guzzling, environment-damaging image that causes particular concern in Europe. It is a combination that Lexus, with its RX400h, has demonstrated with success. And at Frankfurt, many other companies, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Toyota, BMW, and Smart showed production or concept hybrids and/or talked earnestly about the technology's potential.