A new report finds Fiat-owned Alfa Romeo will travel to next year’s edition of the Geneva Motor Show to unveil the facelifted 2016 Giulietta.

Introduced in the 2010, the Golf-sized Giulietta will benefit from a redesigned front end that is expected to borrow styling cues from the 2017 Giulia sedan that bowed last month in Frankfurt. That means it will get sharper-looking headlights, a bigger air dam at the bottom of the bumper and a much bolder rendition of Alfa’s triangular grille. Out back, the updates will be largely limited to new-look tail lamps.

The facelift will be complemented by a more modern-looking interior. Additionally, most trim levels will be available with an Alfa-specific version of Chrysler’s touch screen-based Uconnect infotainment system.

Whether Alfa will make mechanical modifications to the Giulia is up in the air. Currently, the hatchback is offered with gasoline- and diesel-burning four-cylinder engines borrowed from the Fiat parts bin, and front-wheel drive is the only configuration available.

The 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulietta is expected to go on sale across Europe shortly after it greets the show-going public in Switzerland. It won’t be sold in the United States because it doesn’t comply with local safety regulations, but we hear the next-gen model that’s tentatively scheduled to arrive before the end of the decade will be designed with our market in mind.

Note: 2015 Alfa Romeo Giulietta pictured.

Callaway Competition has introduced a new Corvette-based race car at a private event held on the Hockenheimring in Germany.

Dubbed Corvette GT3-R, the race car is based on the seventh-gen ‘Vette and it was designed to replace the successful Z06.R GT3. It is powered by a Chevrolet-derived 6.2-liter V8 engine that has been tuned in-house to send over 600 horsepower to the rear wheels via a X-Trac six-speed sequential gearbox controlled by shift paddles. Performance specifications won’t be published until later this year.

Crafted largely out of carbon fiber, the GT3-R gets a full body kit that includes a deep front bumper with a splitter, massive fender flares, a huge air diffuser out back and a sizable trunk-mounted spoiler. A small hatch lets the driver escape through the roof in the event of an emergency.

The cockpit has been stripped of all unnecessary equipment in order to keep weight in check. It gains a digital instrument cluster, a carbon fiber dashboard, and a rectangular multi-function steering wheel. The GT3-R is also fitted with a full FIA-compliant roll cage.

Callaway Competition’s new Corvette GT3-R is scheduled to make its racing debut early next year. When it hits the track, it will face stiff competition from racers built by highly-experienced companies like Porsche, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Scion has experienced a resurgence in sales, achieving the fastest growth of any car brand in the US market for September.

Fueled by the arrival of two new models, the iA and iM, Toyota’s youthful marque experienced a 57-percent jump to 6,510 units for the month. When including SUV brands, Scion still achieved the number-two spot behind Land Rover, as noted in a Good Car Bad Car report spotted by TTAC.

The numbers are good news for the new additions to the lineup, however deliveries continue to fall for the existing members of the family. The xB was down by approximately six percent in September, while the tC slid by 14 percent and the FR-S declined by 15 percent.

Despite the extra few thousand sales of the iA and iM, Scion still has some catching up before breaking even with 2014′s numbers. Notably, 2014 wasn’t exactly a good year for the brand, which ended 15 percent below 2013′s tally.

The iA is adapted from the Mazda2 platform, offering a modest 106 horsepower and a city/highway fuel efficiency rating of 33/42 mpg. Serving as Scion’s first sedan, it has already achieved sales 50 percent higher than the iM and approaching the combined total for the xB and tC.

The more expensive iM hatchback may not be selling as quickly as the iA, though it already outsold the xB and tC on an individual basis. It is essentially a rebadged Toyota Auris, powered by a 1.8-liter engine with 137 ponies and a choice between six-speed manual or CVT transmissions.

The iA and iM represent the first step in Toyota’s complete overhaul of the Scion division. The brand is reportedly considering a small crossover to engage the popular segment, while the FR-S and tC are due to be updated within the next few years.

Automakers are quickly voicing concerns over certain provisions, or lack thereof, in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Representatives from participating countries recently wrapped up the initial round of negotiations. Specific terms are now being made public, sparking debate as officials attempt to gain support for the agreement.

“The TPP is a trade agreement with 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific, including Canada and Mexico that will eliminate over 18,000 taxes various countries put on Made-in-America products,” the Obama Administration said in a statement.

Some US automakers do not feel that simple tariff eliminations will go far enough to truly level the playing field. Echoing past sentiment, critics argue that any trade deal must include protections against currency manipulation to be effective.

“Within the U.S. Congress, there is bipartisan consensus that currency manipulation needs to be meaningfully addressed,” Ford said in a statement published by the Detroit Free Press. “This summer, U.S. lawmakers took unprecedented action to set a clear negotiating objective for addressing currency manipulation in all future trade deals. The TPP fails to meet that test.”

Ford did not provide specific examples of currency manipulation, however US automakers are believed to be particularly concerned over artificial currency devaluation in Asian countries. Hyundai and Kia early this forecast a significant slowdown in sales growth, primarily due to the ongoing backward slide of Japan’s Yen. A weak local currency potentially gives Japanese automakers a competitive edge, giving made-in-Japan cars a price advantage in the global market. Imports are also discouraged, as cars made in other countries become comparatively more expensive for Japanese buyers.

Legislators have called for independent legislation to address threats posed by currency manipulation. One proposal included an enforcement provision that would give the Commerce Department authority to implement tariffs to negate the advantage of such manipulation, though it is unclear if such a system would violate tariff-reduction terms of the TPP.

In a letter sent to the EU Parliament Friday, Volkswagen informed the body that the EU market accounts for eight of the 11 million diesel-powered vehicles sold with its emissions-override software.

German news publication Handelsblatt [German language]obtained a copy of the letter, which confirms that the 1.2L, 1.6L and 2.0L variants of the EU5 Type 189 diesel-four cylinder are all affected. Volkswagen again apologized for the actions of “a few” and vowed to make good both with regulators and its customers.

Of note is an assertion by VW that the engines in question are “currently being examined to see whether they comply with the legal requirements,” [translated quote from source] which may indicate that VW’s intention to detail a refit plan by the end of the week may be on shaky ground, and could explain why the company has been vague with the particulars.

Some reports have suggested the affected vehicles may need to be outfitted with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to bring emissions back down to acceptable levels without a significant reduction in power output and fuel economy.

A urea-injection retrofit is expected to be extremely expensive and may not even be technically feasible. As an alternative, VW could take the cheaper route of simply tweaking the software to run in the emissions-compliant test mode. A software reflash may be less expensive up front, but could cost VW later as the deluge of class-action lawsuits begin to put a price tag on lost value and owners’ higher fuel costs.

The German automaker has already put aside 6.5 billion euros (~$7.25 billion USD) to cover costs associated with the crisis. It is unclear if the total has been allocated solely for the recall costs, or if the charge reflects anticipated fines and civil-litigation damages.