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" Though the 2011 New York International Auto Show came with the standard car-show glitz\u2014a bevy of A-list celebrities sprinkled here and there (Stephen Colbert, Kiss, etc.) and lots of high-gloss production values\u2014the message of this year&amp;#039;s show was something decidedly less sexy: fuel economy. This is, to put it mildly, a departure from an event that has perennially been targeted to luxury and a relatively well-heeled suburban New York buyer.  To wit, the night before the show opened to the press, Porsche rolled out a replica of the circa-1900 Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus, what the German carmaker claims was the first-ever hybrid. The original, and the fully running replica, used gas motors to drive electric generators that would, in turn, power massive wheel hub motors. It was a stupendous publicity job to re-create this complex machine and make it run (though word was the replica was leaking gas as it drove gingerly into the event space). Still, most didn&amp;#039;t notice the mishap, and Porsche used the buzz around this antiquated machine to reveal a more modern version, the 333-hp V6-powered Panamera S Hybrid. The 2012 S Hybrid (debuting in the U.S this fall) will get boosted fuel economy via a 47-hp (221 lb-ft of torque) electric motor to deliver an expected 35 mpg on the highway\u2014if you can afford the $95,000 sticker.  Other German labels hinted at higher EPA figures too. Mercedes-Benz showed off an A-Class prototype with a four-cylinder that looked very real indeed, and is expected to be the successor to the A-Class in Europe. While in the past Mercedes has not wanted to &amp;quot;cheapen&amp;quot; the Benz label with an economy-car edition in the U.S., this prototype platform is almost sure to spawn something fuel-miserly and more wallet-friendly than the C-Class for American buyers. Or it could hint at a pint-size crossover to compete with the smaller Audis, BMWs and Mini Countryman coming to the U.S.  Speaking of BMW, Benz&amp;#039;s rival also emphasized (some) frugality, announcing that the 2012 Z4 sDrive28i (debuting this fall) will run on a turbocharged, direct-injected 2.0-liter four (dumping the 3.0-liter six of the Z4 sDrive 30i), which BMW claims will put out 240 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. That&amp;#039;s a drop of 15 hp, but the torque is a significant uptick (from 220 lb-ft). Unfortunately, BMW didn&amp;#039;t reveal expected fuel-economy data, so we don&amp;#039;t yet know how much more frugal with fuel the smaller four will be. We do know it will be lighter, and certainly heralds an era of smaller, turbocharged, direct-injected four-cylinders from BMW. Cue the 2012 Ford Taurus, and the brand that&amp;#039;s all about direct injection, variable valve timing and turbocharging (they call it EcoBoost, for short). Two days before the show opened to the press, Ford showed the 2012 Taurus with a 2.0-liter, 237-hp EcoBoost four-cylinder, with a big jump in highway fuel economy to at least 31 (estimated). But hard on Ford&amp;#039;s heels comes crosstown rival Chevy, which flaunted a potentially even more fuel-miserly 2013 Malibu (expected early 2012). With a 2.5-liter four-cylinder only kicking out 190 hp it might be as efficient as the Taurus\u2014and the hybrid Malibu Eco is expected to reach 38 highway mpg. Larger sedans, however, were clearly not the trend at this show. Smaller is better in NYC this spring, which claims of 40 mpg or better heard around the show. It&amp;#039;s clearly a new benchmark for automakers selling to a world of at least $4-a-gallon gas. One saving grace, however, is that not all carmakers seemed to think that you had to have a healthy dose of vanilla along with your nonfat, decaf pint-size metal box. The 2012 Mazda3, a car that was already a hoot to drive, gets upgraded horsepower and fuel economy\u2014Mazda claims 40 EPA on the highway. And you can add the newly redesigned 2012 Honda Civic, on sale now, to the list of inexpensive, high-mileage and fun-to-drive cars. The $24,050 Hybrid will get a combined 44 city/highway mpg, and ditches the prior edition&amp;#039;s heavier nickel-metal-hydride batteries for lithium-ion ones. The conventional HF version will be five grand cheaper and still get 29 city/41 highway. Or you could go much cheaper and average nearly the same fuel economy as the Civic HF with the $10,990 2012 Nissan Versa, which will get 30 city/37 highway.  If this past winter taught you that all-wheel drive is a necessity, there&amp;#039;s good news on the fuel economy front there, too. Subaru debuted the 27 city/36 highway 2012 Impreza, a big jump from the 20 city/26 highway of the current model. Unlike with the Mazda3, though, which improved mileage without cutting performance, Subaru had to reduce displacement from 2.5 to 2.0 liters and horsepower from 170 to 148, though peak torque (145 lb-ft) arrives sooner and the car will be lighter. The Beetle is back and also touting its fuel efficiency, though Volkswagen isn&amp;#039;t flaunting hybrids as much as diesels. And since the Beetle shares a platform with the Jetta and Golf, it was easy for Volkswagen to give its bigger, lower and wider 2012 Beetle the 140-hp, 2.0-liter TDI it currently sells in both those cars. Volkswagen may have even hedged a bit on the expected EPA of that model (due out later this year), saying it would deliver just 29 city/40 highway\u2014the current Jetta TDI gets 30/42.  Still, all these carmakers are chasing Hyundai and Kia in the battle to be small, efficient, bold and exciting. Kia&amp;#039;s new Rio and Hyundai&amp;#039;s new Accent are platform twins, and\u2014much like the strong-selling Elantra\u2014boast a great deal of styling flair and appear to offer excellent fit and finish. Of course Hyundai/Kia are claiming both cars will get to the magic number of 40 mpg on the highway.  If there&amp;#039;s any carmaker that&amp;#039;s even close to Hyundai on delivering styling and fuel economy, it&amp;#039;s Ford, with the Fiesta and the Focus. And drivers seem to agree. The Focus, even with a model changeover happening earlier this spring, trails Elantra sales only slightly. That battle will probably continue as gas prices escalate. And that probably also means that this New York show, unlike many in years past, will be a harbinger of more than glitz and glam, but of a substantive carmaking trend for many years to come. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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