Following two days of press conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, the annual New York International Auto Show will open this Friday and will showcase some of the most innovative vehicle designs of the coming year.

Early media reports indicate that the theme of this year’s auto show will be fuel efficiency and sustainability. In fact, the majority of the hyped cars to be shown off this weekend are hybrid or green vehicles.

Ironically, the Obama administration plans to announce the finalized fuel economy mandates for 2012-16 model cars on the eve of the event. Although hybrids still only account for less than 3 percent of the market share in North America in 2010, automakers are gambling that the current administration’s standards will make fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles the wave of the future, according to The Globe and Mail.

Car manufacturers who plan on unveiling new hybrid versions of some of their premium models include Ford, Porsche, Nissan and Hyundai.
The event will be held at New York’s Javits Center and will run through Sunday, April 11.