Plug-in hybrids are seen by many, including Magna, as the next great  frontier.

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Another entry in the plug-in hybrid race, this time from a competitor with really powerful potential.

Magna International, the top-tier Canadian auto parts maker, says it will roll out a plug-in car late next year or in 2010.

So as not to foul relationships with the major automakers that it already supplies with scores of parts, Magna says it won't sell a competing plug-in but will sell them the bits and pieces needed to make their own.

In markets where its customers don't sell cars, though, Magna intends to field a complete plug-in under its own brand.

The company, which reported $26.1 billion in sales and a $663 million net profit last year, is serious about becoming a car maker.

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Ah, those pragmatic Swedes. While other governments and automakers are studying the idea of perhaps developing plug-in hybrids, the folks in Stockholm got together with auto executives at Volvo and Saab and said, "Hey, let's get radical and actually do something."

That something is a program to speed development of plug-in technology with an eye toward having real vehicles ready to roll for both companies within a few years.

Also participating in the program are Sweden's energy agency, Swedish power company Vattenfall and ETC Batteries and FuelCells Sweden, a private company whose name speaks for itself.

Goal of the $10 million project is to have a fleet of 10 plug-ins on the road for testing by early 2010, with retail models to follow.

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Mercedes-Benz is counting on its new clean diesel engines to help boost sales in a U.S. market suddenly consumed by fuel economy concerns.

But the German luxury carmaker could get another big benefit from diesel sales here: the increased mileage diesel cars and trucks deliver could save it millions of dollars a year in the fines it regularly pays for exceeding the federal CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standard.

For 2006, the most recent figures available, Mercedes – through its then-parent DaimlerChrysler -- paid a record $30.3 million in CAFE fines, according to data posted recently by the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency.

As we reported previously, the record for the highest annual fine had been held by BWW of North America, which paid $27.9 million in 2001 (breaking its own record of $27.3 million set in 2000).

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Production version of Honda FCX concept (above) will be unveiled at  the LA Show

Although environmental transportation isn't a central theme of this year's Los Angeles auto show, there's still a touch of green to be found among the displays at the LA Convention Center.

Green used to be a big thing for the West Coast's premier auto show, but that was before environmental issues became part of just about every auto show on the calendar.

From Detroit to Tokyo, these days they all have a green component, ranging from the unveiling of concepts that explore things like plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and the hydrogen future to the introduction of production models that give us the newest in gas-electric hybrids and alternative fuels such as diesel and ethanol.

In LA this year, events will include an announcement Thursday morning of the Green Car of the Year award winner. Nominees for the award, sponsored by the Green Car Journal magazine, all are hybrids this year, and three are from General Motors: The Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Saturn Aura sedan and Tahoe SUV hybrids. The other finalists are the Mazda Tribute SUV hybrid and the Nissan Altima sedan hybrid.

As the 2007 show prepares to open its doors this week, for a two-day media preview Wednesday and Thursday and to the general public Friday evening for a 10-day run, here's a look at what to expect.

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Although there's plenty of development work on alternative fuels and power plants going on in U.S. automakers’ R&D labs, the industry is consumed these days with fixing its collective financial woes and there's not much noise being made about advancing green technology. Not in the U.S., anyhow.

We likely won't hear too much about what's close to being market ready until the carmakers and the UAW complete their ongoing master contract negotiations and possibly not until the hype around January's Detroit auto show begins.

But Asian and European car companies, including European subsidiaries of both Ford and GM,  are stepping in to fill the environmental void, with a spate of clean diesels and gas-electric hybrids in the works. A lot of green goodies will be shown off at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, which begins a two-day press preview on Tuesday.

Here's a look at what's on tap.

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