Competition for domination in the green car market is intense as automakers around the world are racing to come to market with greener vehicle technologies. New partnerships are being formed and new business models are driving the growth of low and zero emission transportation.

Hybrids and fully electric cars are already on the market around the world. Toyota has the Prius, but it also has a fully electric subcompact car. Honda has the Insight and the carmaker has also announced its intention to launch a hybrid version of its Civic and an all-electric car by 2012. Nissan is now selling its affordable all-electric Leaf compact. The Koreans and the Chinese are also getting in on the greener car action.

In North America, General Motors has the Chevrolet Volt and Ford has the Fusion. In Europe, Volkswagen has launched a fleet of award winning hybrid and electric cars in its bid to become a world leader. Volkswagen subsidiaries, Porsche and Audi are also contributing greener cars. Fiat, Citroen, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes are amongst a number of European carmakers producing hybrid and fully electric cars. Even Jaguar is producing a very efficient luxury. There are also a host of less well known entrants into the greener vehicle market, including one from South Africa’s Joule.

From commercial transports, family cars and subcompacts, to supercars and SUVs, virtually every niche of the vehicle market now offers greener choices.

Competition in the Green Vehicle Market republished with permission from The GREEN MARKET blog.

Read the entire series of articles relating to electric vehicles.

Richard Matthews is a Marketing Consultant and author of The GREEN MARKET, a blog dedicated to green investing and the economy. Richard hails from Quebec Canada. He enjoys hiking, canoeing, and rock-climbing.