2012 Buick Verano stickers for $23,470

Buick has stamped the compact 2012 Verano sedan with a $23,470 base price, including destination. Set to go on sale later this year, the Verano comes in three trim levels that use a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. The top-level Verano costs $26,850 with destination.

Peugeot 2008 Crossover: UK price from £12,995

That meant the Urban Crossover Concept from Geneva in 2012 turning in to the new Peugeot 2008 at the start of 2013 – before heading to Geneva 2013 for its public debut – and with that other French car maker, Renault, going a similar route with the Clio-based Captur, it’s clear the French see the future of compact cars moving away from hatchbacks to something more rugged. But unlike the Captur – which was a bit of a disappointing looking Clio on stilts – the Peugeot 2008 does look a more convincing offering, even if it’s a more generic-looking compact SUV than the Nissan Juke and would, for our money, be the pick over the Captur. Peugeot are targeting 8,000 sales a year in the UK for the 2008, and with prices starting at £12,995 and heading up to around £19,000 it seems, if anything, a quite modest target, especially as Peugeot reckons 65 per cent of 2008 customers will be new to the brand.

Volvo Concept XC Coupe at Detroit Auto Show – previews the new Volvo XC90 (+ video)

The Volvo Concept XC Coupe (pictured) will debut at Detroit next month Volvo are heading to the Detroit Auto Show next month with the second of three concepts planned utilising their new scalable platform architecture which will underpin almost all future models – the Volvo Concept XC Coupe. The first of the three new concepts from Volvo came at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in September as the Volvo Concept Coupe – a new take on Volvo’s iconic P1800 – but this time we get a concept that points firmly at the new Volvo XC90, due in a year’s time as a 2015 model. We’ve already got some idea of what Volvo’s designers think the new XC90 should look like, but the styling cues on the Concept Coupe – and the teaser photos of the Concept XC Coupe (above) – give us a much clearer view of what Volvo are planning for one of their most successful cars.