The Geneva Motor Show is not just about the glitter and gloss of this year's newest cars - it is about the future. Beneath the wheeled glamour that adorned the stands of the world's leading manufacturers lurked a rising tide of technology that will sweep through the automotive industry and transform the way we travel.

For more than two decades the level of theories about what might eventually be possible and practical has been rising. Some of these, including fuel-cell cars for all and ultra-safe, automatically guided car convoys on motorways controlled by intelligent cruise control systems, have shifted from fiction to eagerly expected fact - and apparently back to fiction again as we have waited for science and engineering to deliver.

But be patient; the car industry's top men at Geneva were confident that these and many other advances are close. The list includes the convergence of diesel and petrol engine technology to give high performance with low fuel consumption, remarkably frugal diesel hybrids and, at long last, fuel-cell cars. Fuel cells use hydrogen to create electricity and have been hailed for years as the technology that will power no-emission cars of the future.

At Mercedes-Benz, Dr Dieter Zetsche, the chairman, insisted that the company was “very, very serious” about mass producing fuel-cell cars, something about which others in the industry are now very cautious. The start of that mass production will be in 2010 at an extremely low level in the B-Class but Zetsche says that he is convinced that by 2014-15, distinctive, economically competitive fuel-cell models will be in production, probably rising to 100,000 a year.

Honda is also taking fuel cells very seriously (its production FCX Clarity for the Californian market was at Geneva), even though the infrastructure to support them is all but invisible - something that must be developed in parallel with the new technology, Zetsche said.

Around 2015, Mercedes also expects its oddly named DiesOtto diesel-petrol convergence engine to reach production. And Mercedes has announced that a petrol-electric S-Class hybrid capable of an impressive mix of performance, economy (36mpg combined), luxury and elegance will go on sale next year.

With Porsche's involvement with Volkswagen strengthening, it is likely to introduce diesel models for the first time and it is already planning to market the Cayenne and, almost certainly, next year's Panamera saloon as petrol hybrids. As for safety, Wolfgang Durheimer, Porsche's research and development executive vice-president, said at Geneva that he firmly believes that it will eventually be possible for cars to travel rapidly but safely close together - “almost like the carriages of a train” - on the motorway, with electronics taking the strain of maximising safety.

Premium luxury cars face significant challenges to cut CO2 emissions but Bentley announced at Geneva that it would reduce levels by 15 per cent by 2012, with its engines able to use second generation biofuels. And Dr Ulrich Eichhorn, Bentley's engineering director, revealed that an “alternative powertrain” that will cut CO2 emissions by up to 40 per cent is being developed. A hybrid? A diesel? Eichhorn answered questions with an enigmatic smile: “I don't want to spoil the surprise.” All this is for future Geneva shows. But the present one has plenty of new arrivals - albeit with few real surprises.

They include Ford's fine new, coupé-esque Fiesta, that will be on sale later this year. Volkswagen has reprised the Scirocco name for a good-looking, Golf-based coupé and the three-plus-one seater Toyota iQ 3+1 is potentially a brilliant new addition to the minicar world, although probably at more than £9,000. Skoda's luxurious new Superb lays the ghost of a thousand jokes, while the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé with its sky-at-night fibre-optic roof lining that spoils a superbly elegant interior just might generate some.

Honda's new Accord has quality and space. At 183mph, the 4.7-litre GTS is Maserati's fastest production car. Volvo's XC60 makes a practical crossover SUV look very classy and Citroën's all-new C5 saloon and estate add a touch of French chic. And that is what Renault's gull-wing Mégane concept coupé certainly has, while Kia's Soul is boxy, bluff but attractive.

Explore Driving

• Jeremy Clarkson

• New Car Reviews

• Used Car Reviews

• News

• Features

• In The Showroom

• Buying Guide

• Car Clinic