TORONTO —

Gone are the days when a car was only considered a quality product if it had a hood the size of a small living room and could comfortably seat a family of 10.

Nowadays less is more, and almost every major auto manufacturer has a small car in a prominent place in their lineup and on their showroom floors.

And the best news? Many of them are sporty, some are practical cars you could drive every day, and all are cars you might actually want to own.

With that in mind, CTV.ca offers up profiles of three small cars at the Canadian International Auto Show that are either on showroom floors now, or will be later this year.

2012 Ford Focus

The new Focus represents a major change for Ford.

It's styling, based on a "kinetic design" language, is more rounded and tear-drop or wagon-esque than the familiar models, and has a much more modern look or European look, Dean Stoneley, VP of marketing for Ford Canada, told CTV.ca.

The Euro-influenced design makes sense because the Focus is undergoing a large-scale shift to a global manufacturing and design platform. That means, Stoneley explains, the next generation Focus will be the same around the world.

"By going to a global car we can leverage economies of scale in terms of the number of features and types of features we can offer, and we can do it for an affordable price for the customer," Stoneley said.

"This car will have features we haven't seen in this segment before, things like a dual clutch, six-speed automatic transmission -- which is popular in luxury vehicles but not in this segment -- active suspension and high strength boron steel."

• Price: It's supposed to be close to the under-$20,000 current price, but some experts predict it will creep up to the mid-20s.
• Engine: 2.0 litre direct injection four-cylinder engine with 155 hp and 145 lb-ft of torque.
• Fuel consumption: Ford says it has no hard numbers yet but is going for "best in class."

Honda CR-Z

Not surprisingly, the Honda CR-Z has some buzz at the Canadian International Auto Show. It's a hot car and reminds a lot of people of the cool 1980s Honda CR-X. And it's pretty cutting edge too, and is considered by many to be one of the sportiest hybrids yet.

And it looks good with none of that early hybrid space-shuttle quality that made them so unattractive to so many. In fact, a souped-up version of this car could easily star in the next "The Fast and the Furious" installment. It looks that good.

Honda's excited about it too: "It's the only two-seater hybrid vehicle in the marketplace that I would say is mainstream," Jerry Chenkin, executive VP of Honda Canada told CTV.ca.

"The new integrated motor assist technology that's included in this vehicle, together with its styling, the fact it has a manual transmission with an optional automatic, these are features that are making this vehicle unique in the market place."

Basically, he said, it's a green car that's also a heck of a lot of fun to drive -- and that could be a first. The CR-Z will be available in Canada later this year.

• Price: No official estimates yet
• Engine: 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine paired up with an electric motor to generate a combined 122 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque.
• Fuel consumption: The CR-Z is estimated to burn 6.5L per 100 km in the city, and 5.3L on the highway.

Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 -- a much loved Italian icon -- will be available in Canadian showrooms this year, Chrysler announced at the auto show.

Reid Bigland, Chrysler Canada CEO, said the tiny four-seater that is highly popular in Europe is going to make a splash here too, bringing fuel efficiency, practicality and cool European styling together in one car.

"And like Antoinette here," Bigland said at the auto show, gesturing to the pretty model who climbed out of the car at the unveiling. "It's a lot of fun."

Bad jokes aside, it certainly looks like it might be the coolest small car to hit Canadian streets yet -- with none of the Smart car nerdiness that has limited its market share here.

• Price: Estimated to be $19,500
• Engine: 1.4L four cylinder with 100hp and 97 lb-ft of torque.
• Fuel consumption: 7.24L per 100 km.