#EuropeanCars

Europe’s counterpart to the Chevrolet Volt is slated for discontinuation.

With sky-high gas prices on the horizon and increasingly strict emissions standards for car manufacturers to live up to, consumers are constantly looking for more options when it comes to fuel economy, and automakers are equally eager to deliver. For those reasons manufacturers are continuing to downsize engines. It was a tough sell for car buyers to accept four-cylinder engines instead of six-cylinders, but will they have an easier time accepting three-cylinder engines?

For us North Americans, the Peugeot 205 GTi has little or no significance, especially since it was never sold here and the last Pug we could get our hands on was the 405 Mi16 back in 1992.

Audi debuted its A6 Allroad Quattro yesterday at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show to round off its line of A6 cars, though this variant is unavailable outside Europe.

Earlier this year, Ford announced the official unveiling of its production B-MAX mini-MPV. Today, we learned that the company will release additional new models to join the B-MAX at Geneva — the European 2013 Ford Kuga and Ford Fiesta ST (pictured above). 

Someone spilled the beans on a MINI concept car coming to Geneva. They released a story that doesn’t actually have specifications, but confirms the Clubvan name and March 6 Geneva Auto Show premier.

Pricing and equipment details for the 2013 X6 M50d from BMW that won’t be coming stateside are now available.

If you had twelve children every year, would you love them all the same? It might be hard to keep track, but as is true with any parent, seeing one of your babies hurt would be tragic.

Despite reducing the number of models available to US consumers in recent years, notably the compact S40 sedan and V50 Wagon, Volvo has now decided to reverse the trend somewhat by adding a T5 all-wheel drive version to its S60 line.

Swedish automaker Volvo is looking to shack up with a new mate in the hopes of making a fresh set of small cars. Their current compact, the C30 (above), is based on technology from former parent company Ford.

When there’s blood in the water, sharks start to bite. If the automotive industry does nothing else, it fosters ruthless competition and a winner-takes-all mentality akin to professional sports.

MINI will make its way into the commercial vehicle market soon when it releases a cargo-oriented version of the Clubman.

As part of a $1.1 billion cost-cutting effort, PSA, the parent company of both Peugeot and Citroen, will shed 6,000 jobs in Europe, with 2,500 white collar jobs, 2,500 contract worker jobs and 1,000 blue collar jobs expected to be cut in 2012.

Fans of the Land Rover Defender worried about the iconic off-roader’s impending demise should feel at ease, because the Defender has a long life ahead of it, with production scheduled until 2017.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is making Alfa Romeo’s U.S. re-launch a top priority, calling it “the most difficult thing I have to do”. Alfa Romeo last sold cars in the U.S. in 1995, but the brand still has a strong image in the U.S., spurring Marchionne to focus efforts on North America.