Carmakers are tapping smartphone technology to spruce up low-cost minicars and try to get an edge in a market that has grown to account for almost 10 percent of new-car sales in austerity-scarred Europe.

The Opel Adam Rocks, the new Peugeot 108, the Citroen C1 and the Toyota Aygo are among the minicars currently on display at the Geneva auto show – all available with large multimedia screens that can display music libraries or navigation maps stored on a smartphone. Such features have already proven a big draw for customers in more upmarket models, and are now being added to a new breed of urban runabouts pitched at younger, tech-savvy drivers.