Mark Reuss, President of General Motors said "I think that we have to have technology and energy storage and electrification options spanning the customer needs. So you're going to see pure electric. You're going to pure electric options like the Volt and you're going to see a lot of things in between."

GM is also showing off its youthful side. The Buick Verano is a new sporty compact model aimed at young professionals. And for an even younger crowd - there's the Chevy Sonic - small in size, but large in technological bells and whistles.

The all-electric Ford Focus also fits into this year's theme of lean and green. With oil prices expected to remain higher than in the past, fuel efficiency is playing a major role in design, say Ford CEO Alan Mulally.

Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford said "The neat thing in Ford's case, of course, is that our brand promises a complete family of vehicles all of them best in class, not matter what size you need, best in class in fuel efficiency."

While the automakers are touting all this green technology- green car sales still make up only a small portion of the market suggesting the technology has a ways to travel before consumers hitch a ride.