It has now been over 25 years since the introduction of the catalytic converter to reduce emissions from the internal combustion engine. It is considered one of the greatest environmental successes of the 20th century, however, new emission control technologies are still being developed to meet evermore stringent mobile source (gasoline and diesel) emissions, This short review will discuss the basis for improvements and highlight technology area, which will require further improvements in emissions and fuel economy. Some of the issues related to fuel cells which some believe may replace the internal combustion engines for automobile applications is also be briefly discussed.