10 Cars That Should Be in U.S. Showrooms, but Aren't

Yes, Audi pulled the sheets off an extended-range electric version of the company's new hatchback in Geneva, but we're more concerned about why we're not getting the standard model on this side of the pond. The car manages to mix clean Audi styling with an up-market interior and plenty of pep, creating the perfect antidote to MINI fatigue. Under the hood, European buyers can nab a number of engines to suit their tastes, including two turbodiesel powerplants that are all but guaranteed to provide a fun driving experience with fuel economy to match. Just what kind of numbers are we talking about here? Try 44 mpg without any nasty battery packs to deal with. C'mon, Audi, throw us a bone here.

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It's hard to imagine that in some parts of the world, you can stroll up to your local BMW dealer and order up an even more focused version of the already lethal M3. Here's the skinny: The M3 Competition package adds a handful of go-fast goodies and a little fuel-saving tech to make the car even more fit for battle on your local track. Most importantly, the car gets a revised sport suspension and a reworked traction control that will allow you to misbehave a bit more than before. A few styling cues set the car apart from its more plebian brethren, too, including a carbon-fiber front spoiler, 10-millimeter lower ride height and huge 19-inch wheels. Oh, and BMW also threw in a new engine start-stop system to help the car save fuel when you're not embarrassing more expensive metal at the track.

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Like exercise and a healthy diet, Americans just can't seem to wrap their minds around the notion of a small luxury car. Things get even murkier for the well-moneyed when you throw the words "hatchback" and "hybrid" into the mix. In the case of the Lexus CT 200h, that's a shame. Lexus raided the Toyota parts bin for the car's drivetrain (for better or for worse — cough, cough), and the result is the same hybrid setup found in the Prius — and wrapped in a decidedly more attractive package. Given the extra weight, you probably won't see the 50 mpg achieved by the Toyota electric wonder, but high 40 mpgs wouldn't be out of the question. Right now, Toyota is trying to figure out exactly which markets will get the CT 200h, but given the fact that the company's small HS 250h hybrid is already struggling uphill in our market, it doesn't look good for this hatchback.

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The Ford Focus has a long and storied history of being significantly better across the pond than it is in our own backyard. Take this past generation, for example. While we got a coma-inducing Toyota Corolla fighter, Europe got to choose from a number of high-performance versions of the Focus, including a 300-horsepower turbocharged 5-cylinder version. See what we mean? We'll admit that things are starting to get better. Ford has finally decided to go with a global platform, meaning we will get exactly what the rest of the world enjoys. Well, sort of. While the 2011 Focus is downright beautiful compared with the current generation, we turned jealous in a big way when the Blue Oval showed off the Focus Wagon in Geneva. The car adds a significant amount of space behind the rear seats and remains just as good-looking as the U.S.-bound versions we saw unveiled in Detroit. But so far, it looks like this one will elude our grasp.

Video: All-New 2012 Ford Focus

It's been a very long time since a French carmaker sold its wares here in the U.S. That's partly because the French products of the '80s left a taste of spoiled wine in our mouths. But companies such as Citroen and Renault also realized that the hassle of doing business in the U.S. just wasn't worth it. We'll be honest with you — that hasn't really bothered us until lately. Citroen unveiled a new version of its DS3 hatchback called the DS3 Race, and the car looks like the perfect answer the goofy-looking MazdaSpeed3. If you can look past the bizarre wheels and crazy paint scheme, you'll see the lightweight hatchback with a 200-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine at its heart. There's even a lower, more sports-oriented suspension on tap, too. Yes, we're jealous.

Pictures: French Cars in Geneva

As long as we're pining after unattainable French models, we might as well give the Renault Clio Gordini RS its due. In the halls of Renault lore, the Gordini badge means one thing: This is going to be a hair faster than your average econobox. In the case of the Clio Gordini RS, that means the standard Clio RS — already one very capable hatchback — gets a healthy dose of Gordini livery. That white-on-blue paint scheme has carried many a Renault to victory in motorsports over the decades, and it looks as if that trend will continue. Renault will also let buyers opt for a Cup chassis, which includes tweaks to the suspension and brakes to make the car sharper all around. Either way, you get a completely reworked interior with hot black-and-blue leather seats and a sport steering wheel.

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Hands down one of the most frustrating "can't haves" of this year's Geneva Motor Show is the new Volkswagen Polo GTI. This is what would happen if you accidently shrank your Golf in the dryer and then tried to restore it using steroids. The Polo is 300 pounds lighter than the standard Golf, but packs around 178 horsepower from a turbocharged and supercharged 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine. There's also a staggering 184 lb-ft of torque on hand to help scoot the little hatchback up hills and around lumbering semis. If it sounds good, that's because it is. But good may mean too good to be true: Chances are VW isn't bringing the Polo to our neck of the woods. Since the profit margins on subcompact models are already low, VW wouldn't be able to import the car and keep the price competitive with other small cars.

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If you can get past MINI's affinity for capital letters, you'll realize that the ONE D is the MINI that Americans want and need. In Europe, you can buy a number of stripped-down MINI models that aren't available to gadget-happy Americans. Chief among those is the ONE, a car with a big focus on fuel economy and little else. MINI used the Geneva Motor Show to unveil a new D (for diesel) model, and the specs are absolutely jaw-dropping. Power from the 1.6-liter turbocharged diesel 4-cylinder engine isn't exactly staggering at 90 horsepower, but the fuel economy certainly is. MINI says the ONE D can manage around 60 mpg. Even better, the car should be dirt-cheap. Yeah, it'll take you 11 seconds to get to 60 mph, but think of all the time you could save cruising past fueling stations.

Bing: Learn more about the MINI ONE D

By now, you've probably noticed a trend here: We like efficient and functional diesel hatchbacks. And why not? Diesels are fun to drive and easy on the environment and use a fraction of the fuel of their gasoline counterparts without the globe-destroying lithium batteries of hybrids. And if you've ever owned a hatchback, you know just how useful that body style is. Leave it to Alfa Romeo to combine those two loves into a body that will make your knees weak. The car is called the Giulietta, and it's styled after the ridiculously gorgeous Alfa Romeo 8C supercar. Let us be the first to tell you: It works. While European buyers will have their choice of a number of powerplants, the most exciting is a 170-horsepower turbodiesel 4-cylinder. Yes, it gets insanely good fuel economy, and no, we can't have it.

Pictures: Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

The Audi A5 is arguably one of the best-looking coupes on sale anywhere in the world right now. But it doesn't exactly put down the kind of performance figures that will knock your socks off. The S5 is a lot faster, of course, with a 4.2-liter V8 engine that produces 350 horsepower. But it isn't BMW M3 fast. That's where the RS5 comes in, predictably enough. Looking even less aggressive than an M3, the pinnacle of Audi "5" performance has the same displacement as its more pedestrian S5 brother, but develops an additional 100 horsepower. As you might have guessed, the engine is coupled to a quattro all-wheel-drive system — this time with a significant rear-wheel-drive bias. If your mouth is watering, you're not alone.

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