comments Peugeot Drops New Photos on the New 4008 Crossover, will go on Sale Outside Europe as well

The 4008 measures 4,340mm long (295mm shorter than the 4007), 1,800mm wide and 1,630mm tall, and rides on a 2,670mm long wheelbase, offering a boot volume of 416 liters with a spare wheel and up to 442 liters with a puncture repair kit.

At launch, the new Peugeot crossover model will be available with a choice of two petrol and the same number of diesel engines.

The gasoline range comprises a 1.6-liter unit producing 115HP (86kW) and 152Nm of peak torque, which is linked to a five-speed manual gearbox, and a 2.0-liter with 150HP (113kW) and 198Nm offered with a 5-speed manual or a CVT.

The diesel lineup includes a 1.6-liter HDi with 115HP (86kW) and 270Nm (280Nm with overboost), matched to a six-speed manual gearbox, and a 1.8-liter HDi producing 150HP (110kW) and 300Nm, connected to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

Aside from the 1.6-liter petrol engine which is available only with front-wheel drive, all the other powerplants are offered with all-wheel drive as an option.

With the new gallery, Peugeot gives us our first look at some of the interior details but we don't get the full picture. From what we can tell, the dashboard doesn't seem to have changed much (if at all) from the Mitsubishi ASX.

There's a lot of news coming out of Peugeot's headquarters today, and it's all about the 2012 edition of the Geneva Motor Show.

After the presentation of the 208 XY and 208 GTi concept models earlier today, the French brand unleashed a new batch of pictures of the 4008 in the outside world, including the first images of the interior.

You may recall from our first story on the 4008 that it is based on the Mitsubishi ASX, also known as the Outlander Sport in the States, and RVR in Japan and Canada. The ASX itself uses a shortened version of the regular Outlander's platform that also forms the base for the larger Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser SUVs.

Peugeot also announced today that the new 4008 will be distributed to more than 50 countries around the world starting from Russia and the Ukraine, then among other places, in China, Australia, New Zealand , Argentina and in Europe from May.

- Mercedes launching AMG awareness campaign

Stand anywhere near where an AMG Mercedes is driving and you'd have to be deaf not to hear it. But Mercedes-Benz is convinced that too few potential customers have heard of its performance range, so it's launching an awareness campaign around the United States that seeks to raise the profile of its top shelf performance models.

The project involves the establishment of AMG Performance Centers, a focused advertising campaign and a product-demonstration road show. An initial pilot project will involve seven dealers in California, Florida and New York, but by the end of the year, Mercedes expects that its top 30 dealerships – representing 80% of AMG sales in the US – will sign on to the program. Mercedes will subsidize dealerships on the cost of setting up separate AMG areas within their dealerships and training service personnel, as well as bringing the road show to town, which will demonstrate limited edition AMG models – we're thinking Black Series here – to select customers.