Shh! Don't Tell the Americans. . .

While many car designs are today available throughout the world, European consumers often have different needs from Americans, so there are some cars being marketed here in Europe that won't make it to American showrooms.

Take the Fiat 500, a tiny hatchback of a kind that's much in demand by Euro-city dwellers but wouldn't find much favor with U.S. buyers brought up on big sedans and capacious trucks. Yet there's no doubting its charm and personality - European journalists like this retro-styled little subcompact so much they named it Car of the Year.

At Geneva a sporty Abarth version was unveiled with a more powerful 135-horsepower engine. While it is perfect for zipping about the narrow streets of Geneva, Rome or Paris, it's not the car to make a great first impression in Dallas or Chicago.

Moving up a size, there's the Ford Fiesta, a car that will likely make it to the U.S., albeit not looking exactly like this - Ford thinks U.S. buyers will want a restyled sedan version. Far be it for us to question the wisdom of Ford's marketing wonks, but Fiesta shares its platform with the Mazda2, and with the Mazda3 doing so well we wonder if Mazda might add this smaller hatch to its range.

If you're an enthusiastic driver in need of a practical compact car, you might lust after the European Ford Focus. Very different from its American namesake, this is a high quality, agile and sparky hatchback with a finely honed chassis and wide range of engine and trim options, whose superb ride and handling have made it a benchmark in its class. Thanks to Ford of Europe's "kinetic" design it even looks sharp. The problem is that the things that make it great also mean it costs much more than U.S. buyers are accustomed to paying for cars of this size, especially ones with domestic nameplates.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen finally unveiled the long-promised new Scirocco in production form. We loved the idea of this update of the now-classic compact affordable sports coupe, last produced in 1992. We weren't completely satisfied with the fussy detailing and unexciting rear profile of the finished product, but nevertheless, we're sure that it will sell well enough. The official line so far is that it's not coming to America, but that could change.

VW's upscale stablemate Audi wowed Detroit show goers in January with its crazy 500 horsepower diesel R8 supercar concept. Fanciful? Consider this: European car buyers will get a real diesel sports coupe from Audi in the form of the TT TDI. The 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbodiesel has 170 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, for around 40 mpg and 0-62 mph in 7.5 seconds. Not bad. And Audi has bigger, more powerful diesels than that elsewhere in its line-up.

Renault, the French manufacturer, has a whole selection of interesting cars that you can't have. The Laguna GT coupe concept and Megane coupe concept (which received its world debut here) are both studies for cars that will eventually be produced. Both are very pretty shapes and generously proportioned. Some of Renault's Formula 1 magic has rubbed off on the little Renaultsport Twingo, a "pocket rocket" challenger to the Fiat 500 Abarth that's also worth a glance. But perhaps most tempting for U.S. buyers would be the new Koleos, a (very) compact SUV built on the Nissan X-Trail platform.

And let's not forget the Tata Nano. Though it was prominently on show at Geneva, this is a car that neither Americans nor Europeans can buy. It's a minute, egg-shaped, four seat, four-door hatch with a 2-cylinder 600 cc engine: a breakthrough product for its Indian maker and a huge milestone for India's people.

At around $2,500 a pop, it puts car ownership within reach of millions. Making it meet Western market standards would probably triple the price, but Tata hasn't ruled out offering second-generation Nano in developed markets. And the quality of build, packaging and presentation from Tata puts most Chinese carmakers to shame. A sign of things to come.