Peugeot 301 RXH Crossover-ish Station Wagon

The recent unveiling of Peugeot's 301 budget compact sedan in advance of its world premiere at the 2012 Paris Motor Show in September had Khalil Bouguerra from Virtuel-Car pondering what a crossover variant would look like. The result is the 301 RXH modeled after Peugeot's larger 508 RXH.
The artist began the project by turning the 301 sedan into a station wagon model and then giving it some extra ride height while also applying the usually styling trickery seen in these types of vehicles such as the chunky plastic cladding to protect the bodywork.
It's too early to know if Peugeot has any plans to expand the range of the 301, but the RXH is one variant we could see the French brand offering in the not so distant future, especially in western Europe.

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Peugeot 301 Budget Compact Saloon Revealed Ahead of Paris Debut

With its sights set mainly on emerging markets, Peugeot has introduced a new compact sedan named the 301 in advance of its world premiere at the Paris Auto Show in September. The new 301 will be assembled in Peugeot's factory in Vigo, Spain, and will go on sale from November in Turkey and then into Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, The Middle East, Gulf and African States, as well as in select Latin American markets.
The French firm says that the 301 has been designed to appeal to customers looking for an economical but modern compact saloon and that it was developed to adapt to all climates and conditions of use.
The 301 is 4,440mm long and rides on a 2,650 mm wheelbase offering a class-leading boot volume of 506 liters. Both the exterior and interior design of the saloon draw their inspiration from Peugeot's latest models such as the mid-size 508 and the 208 supermini.
Peugeot's rival to the upcoming Skoda Rapid and Seat Toledo models will become the second car in its range after the 208 to be offered with the brand's new 1.2-liter VTi petrol engine delivering 70hp (71PS) and linked to either a manual gearbox or an automated manual transmission (EGC).
Other engine options include a 91hp (92PS) 1.6-liter HDi turbo diesel matched to a manual, and a 114hp (115PS) 1.6-liter petrol matched to either a manual or automated manual gearbox.
The French carmakers says that, even though the 301 is a budget car, it will offer many comfort equipment features (depending on the model), such as electronic air conditioning, MP3 audio system with Bluetooth hands-free kit and USB connection, remote opening of the boot and rear parking assistance.

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Opel Denies that the Next Zafira will be Developed by PSA Peugeot-Citroën

The more General Motors European division and PSA Peugeot-Citroën deepen their newly formed strategic partnership, the more rumors come out. Earlier today, Germany's Spiegel magazine and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung business daily reported that GM decided to move development of the next Opel Zafira minivan from Germany to France. Opel's response came in quickly via a statement attributed to Opel/Vauxhall CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke who denied the reports.
"As part of the initial announcement earlier this year, GM/Opel and PSA stated their intent to cooperate in several areas including product development. Whatever the final split will be among the agreed common projects, no jobs will be lost in the engineering center in Ruesselsheim due to the alliance – in fact, the nature of the alliance is that it is a balanced one," Stracke said in the statement.
"Opel is leaving no stone unturned to enhance the efficiency and future viability in order to achieve sustainable profitability as quickly as possible in a difficult market environment," he added.
In a separate report from Reuters, GM and PSA Peugeot-Citroën are said to have sealed several deals over the past month, including expanding the number of cars they will build on shared platforms.
"Work teams are in place, meeting regularly and hopefully soon we will be able to share the first update on alliance progress," GM stated.
While GM may not be willing to release details, Peugeot Director General Frederic Saint-Geours was more than happy to show his cards during an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera. Saint Geours said that the two automotive groups will "launch a raft of new models on shared platforms from 2016".
"We will launch a D-segment car, a crossover, a compact minivan, and two models in the B and C segments," he told the Italian daily. "After that, we will launch a shared-platform eco-friendly car."
To explain, by D-segment car, the French executive means something in the likes of the Opel Insignia/Peugeot 508, by compact minivan a vehicle similar to the Citroen Picasso, while a B-segment car translates to an Opel Corsa/Peugeot 208 and C-segment to the Opel Astra/Citroen C4.

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VW Golf Keeps its Sales Crown in Europe for 2011, Polo Comes in 2nd And Ford Fiesta 3rd

The sixth generation of the Volkswagen Golf is in its final year with a replacement due to be unveiled at the upcoming Paris Motor Show this fall, yet it still managed to sell more cars than any other model in Europe in 2011 for a third year in a row, according to data provided from JATO Dynamics. Volkswagen delivered 484,547 units of the Golf in 2011, down 1.6% over the previous year. The German company also took second spot with the Polo that sold 356,490 cars, up 0.5%, while the Ford Fiesta with 348,465 sales (-13.3%), the Opel / Vauxhall Corsa with 313,325 units (-1.7%) and the Renault Clio with 294,172 (-13.1%) complete the Top 5.
We should note that all Top 10 best-sellers came from either German (7 models) or French (3 models) brands.
JATO Dynamics says that outside the top ten, certain models performed much better than their predecessors did including Peugeot’s new 508, which saw its sales rise almost three times achieved by its predecessor, the 407, in 2010, the new Ford C-Max/Grand C-Max, Citroën C4, BMW X3 and Kia Sportage.
Overall, the European market shrunk 1.2% over 2010 to 13,543,179 units in 2011.
Greece and Portugal recorded the largest drops with 30.7% and 31.3% respectively, while on the other side of the spectrum, Latvia and Lithuania posted gains of 72.5% and 66.0% respectively.
The top selling brand in Europe was of course Volkswagen with 1,678,279 units (+9.1%) followed by Ford with 1,087,912 (-2.8%) and Renault with 1,038,313 (-8.8%). Out of the top ten brands in 2011, only Volkswagen, BMW, Audi and Mercedes ended 2011 with no reduction in sales.
“Germany is clearly leading Europe in terms of a market for new cars as well as manufacturing models which appeal to consumers across the region. This is even more impressive considering the challenges we saw in the overall European market during 2011," commented Gareth Hession, Vice President, Research at JATO.

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