For cars, green's the way to go
One of Europe's top auto shows opens in London today. Green is the theme, but red is the dominate color, as Marketplace's Stephen Beard reports.
The THINK City electric, zero emissions, zero CO2, silent car on display at the International Motor Show on July 22, 2008 in London, England. (Cate Gillon/Getty Images)
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Stacey Vanek-Smith: One of Europe's top auto shows opens in London today. Green is the theme, but red is the dominate color, as Marketplace's Stephen Beard reports.
Stephen Beard: Forget glamour and speed. The new selling point is sustainability. There are more low-emission vehicles on display at this years British Motor Show than ever before.
General Motors is unveiling a new fuel efficient version of its gas guzzling Camerro sports car. This one will do all of 26 miles to the gallon.
But the greenery can't disguise the industry's growing alarm. European car sales fell by almost 8 percent last month. Analyst Phil Dunn:
Phil Dunn: People are kind of holding off from making the investment in cars, and therefore we're seeing the whole market drop.
Not yet as bad as in the States, but the downturn here seems to be gathering pace. In Italy, Fiat is closing more plants this summer. And Renault in France is scaling back production, too.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
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