High oil prices and increasing concerns about carbon emissions would play a bigger role on customers' choices, but so-called muscle cars still had a future.

"There is no sign at the moment that we are seeing any contraction in 4x4s," said Paul Wilcox, VP strategy & marketing at Nissan Europe. "I can't see a big backlash from consumers."

DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz brand used the Geneva event to showcase high-performance cars made by its AMG tuning shop, including a 12-cylinder S-Class car and a CLK model whose V8 motor whips it from zero to 100 km/hour in 4.6 seconds.

But it added that 40 percent of the cars it sells in western Europe consume just 6 litres per 100 km.

Crossovers SUV’s, which are based on car platforms and are more fuel efficient than traditional SUV’s, featured prominently at the Geneva car show.

French car group Renault said this week that SUV’s and other offroaders will be among the new models it plans to launch to swell sales. It is gearing up for no less than 26 launches in 2007-09 and re-entry into the higher-market segments.

"In Europe the hybrid is still very small, it will grow but it won't grow in the same proportion as it has in the United States because in Europe there is diesel," Renault commercial director Patrick Blain told reporters.

FUEL PRICES

Europeans are more immune to high fuel prices than drivers in the United States and other countries because fuel taxes are so high that prices at the pump do not fluctuate as much.

Diesel motors - around a quarter more fuel efficient than petrol ones - make up half the car market in Europe.

"I think we will see some expansion of the hybrid market here in Europe but I think it will be relatively small and slow," General Motors Chief Executive Rick Wagoner told reporters at Geneva.

"We are going to try and offer a broader range of diesel powered vehicles in the US. I have a wait-and-see attitude as to how big it is going to get."

CROSSOVERS GROWING

The automaker's European chief, Carl-Peter Forster, meanwhile, said crossovers SUV’s are "currently the fastest growing segment" in Europe.

GM is launching its Captiva SUV this year in the segment.

Manufacturers from across the globe appear to be rushing to fill the gap in the segment as was evident at the show.

Europe's largest automaker Volkswagen showed a front-and-all-wheel drive crossover concept that is a strong indication of how the Golf-based vehicle will look when it goes on sale next year.

The vehicle competes against popular vehicles from Asian automakers like Honda Motor Co Ltd's CR-V and Toyota Motor Corp's RAV4.

Toyota Motor Corp introduced a concept, the Urban Cruiser, that might point to an entry-level crossover positioned below the RAV4. Designed at Toyota's ED2 studio near Nice, France, the Urban Cruiser is a three-door, futuristic-looking small SUV.

Suzuki Motor Corp's said its SX4 crossover is an important part of the automaker's ambition to boost sales in Europe.

Analysts also said the traditional small car would continue to play a dominant role.

"Despite all the attention paid to crossovers SUVs and other new products, small cars will still remain the largest segment in Europe in the near term," Walt Madeira, European sales forecast manager at CSM World wide told Reuters.

However, that could change in the long-term as environmental concerns and high fuel prices take charge of spending patterns.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said his dream was to create cars which could clean the air as they drive and could go from London to Istanbul on one tank of fuel.

"Especially due to the surge in oil prices there has been greater interest and concern by consumers on fuel consumption with varying degrees of interest depending on the country," he said.

"We have seen that in the United States and Japan and probably in south-east Asia. Europe is no exception to that."