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We often talk about companies like Ford and Mercedes-Benz that have their automotive roots over 100 years in the past, but those aren't the only old-timers in the industry. One of the oldest had been American LaFrance, a company that had been building firefighting vehicles for over 180 years. Notice that we said 'had been...'

The company's roots go back to 1832 as a firefighting equipment maker. It began building steam-powered, horse-drawn fire engines in the era before the internal combustion engine and merged with LaFrance in 1903 to become one of America's leading fire engine builders. Unfortunately, the 21st century was not been so kind to the company. Freightliner bought it in 1995 and production was moved from North Carolina to South Carolina, but it was sold again in December 2005. After declaring and emerging from bankruptcy in 2008, American LaFrance moved to a smaller factory in Moncks Corner, SC, in 2013.

American LaFrance's previous owner, Patriarch Partners, issued a statement to South Carolina newspaper The Post and Courier that said: "Unfortunately, the company's unexpected current financial condition requires the discontinuation of operations in these locations at this time and these facilities are not expected to reopen." Autoblog attempted to call American LaFrance for comment, but its listed phone number no longer works. It seems that the brand's flame has finally been extinguished.

With just under 80 debuts rounding out our coverage of the Geneva Motor Show, it's fair to say that we are spent. It's been a busy couple of days, and once again, the Swiss expo proved to be a great venue for hot, new debuts from global automakers.

We've got our full roundup of coverage posted below, so have a look back, just in case there's anything you might have missed. Stay tuned for our usual Editors' Choice picks, as well.

Can destroying a car be art? That question comes a bit too late for the Maserati Quattroporte seen above. The act depicted is from the music video for Adentro by Puerto Rican hip-hop act Calle 13 new single.

While the video is not yet online, the making-of featurette is available below and shows the luxury sedan getting beat with a baseball bat (and more) by the group's frontman René Pérez. According to Latin Gossip, Pérez wants to send his fans a message not to place too high a value in material objects. The Maserati represents a time in his life of too much excess, it seems...

The guy might have an argument, but it still seems pretty wasteful to destroy a perfectly good Italian sports sedan. We will be curious to see how far the destruction goes, but you can get a peak at it in the video below.

The Peugeot 308 SW may not exactly stand out against the backdrop of tuner specials and concept cars here at the Geneva Motor Show, but with the action winding down we can already say that it is one of the most relevant for European buyers.

Peugeot's 308 was just named European Car of the Year earlier this week, so it appears that the French brand is doing more than a little bit right with the model. The 308 SW, meanwhile, presents a small estate version of the formula, offering the kind of reasonable economy, flexible space and relatively inexpensive price point that Euro buyers seem to find so attractive.

As we reported last month, the 308 SW drops some 308 pounds (140 kilograms) versus the outgoing version, and can be had with efficient gas- and diesel-powered engines. The 1.2-liter engine is good for about 129 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque, while the larger 1.6 brings with it 154 hp and 177 lb-ft. Six-speed manual transmissions are on offer across the board (we don't see any mention of an automatic in Peugeot's rather terse press materials below).

Opel's Meriva hatchback has received a slight refresh at the Geneva Motor Show with new styling and two tunes of a new 1.6-liter diesel engine. Its tech gets a slight upgrade as well with better smartphone integration for the infotainment system.

The Meriva still features its suicide opening doors that Opel claims makes ingress and egress from the rear easier. The refresh also gives the hatchback a grille with more chrome, slightly altered headlights, LED running lights and chrome trim along the bottom of the side windows.

The biggest changes for the Meriva are mechanical. Opel has added its new 1.6-liter CDTI diesel available with either 134 horsepower or 109 hp. The less powerful version emits 99 grams of CO2 per 100 kilometers, which allows it to take advantage of lower taxes in much of Europe. The model's five- and six-speed manuals have also been improved with a low friction material to make shifting easier.

Like many of the cars from Geneva, the Meriva is another vehicle that won't be sold here. Naturally, you can see and read all about this slightly less-desirable forbidden fruit, below.

One of the common defenses of the Chevrolet Corvette when it's compared against its European and Japanese competitors is that the price makes the 'Vette a bargain for its neck-snapping performance. That equation is changing, slightly. While it still undercuts many rivals, Chevrolet is raising the cost of its halo model due to high demand.

Prices for the 2014 Corvette have risen by $2,000 for both the coupe and convertible. The Z51 package is now a $4,000 option, an increase of $1,200. With the $995 destination charge, a base Corvette Stingray now runs buyers $53,995, and the drop top is now $58,995. The new pricing went into effect on March 1, but buyers who already have orders in place are not affected. According to Corvette Blogger, some dealers are also not marking up cars built before March that are on their lots.

"The reason for the increase is simply that customer demand for the Stingray, and especially the Z51 package, have exceeded our initial expectations. As such we wanted adjust pricing in line with demand," said Monte Doran, Chevy's PR specialist for the Corvette and Camaro.

It's great for the company that demand is so high, but it is too bad for customers that a higher price is being passed on to them. Still, if you are already in the market for a 'Vette and want a deal, find a dealer with a few left on the lot.

General Motors' problems with its recall of roughly 1.6-million vehicles continue to mount. Now that it has emerged that GM knew about the problem since at least 2004 but waited to recall vehicles until February 2014, regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have begun a much deeper investigation. NHTSA has sent a 27-page survey to GM that includes 107 questions about the timeline of what led up to the recall, and it has until April 3 to reply.

This isn't a simple, multiple-choice test. Automotive News believes that hundreds of pages could be required to answer some of the queries. NHTSA says that it is still investigating GM's response to the recall. "We are a data-driven organization, and we will take whatever action is appropriate based on where our findings lead us," said NHTSA in a statement on its website. If found liable, the automaker could face a fine as high as $35 million and even possible criminal charges, according to Bloomberg.

NHTSA's questions include a detailed explanation of GM's examination process; how it will improve the process; why a planned redesign of the cars' key in 2005 wasn't implemented; and specific data on each complaint it received. According to Bloomberg, NHTSA also has records that show the company had a meeting with regulators to discuss the airbag failure in a Chevrolet Cobalt in 2007.

New GM CEO Mary Barra has also hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation about what happened. It will include questioning company employees who were involved with the process from the start. The recall stems from faulty ignition switches that shut off the car while driving, and if it occurs the airbags deactivate. Thirteen deaths and 23 crashes have been caused by the problem, according to Bloomberg. If you would like to peruse NHTSA's entire questionnaire for GM, it can be viewed here.

We are used to seeing full vehicles being unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, or at least concepts that presage a future model, but the German engineering group EDAG stripped things down even further to imagine a future car cockpit. Really, it's a way for the company to show off its next-generation manufacturing technology that allows it to make parts in a single production process.

The company says that a turtle's skeleton inspired the cockpit's design (which is a bit morbid), and that it features a protective shell on the outside to support the fragile parts inside. It's made using a technique called fused deposition modeling, which is similar to the process used in 3D printing but on a much bigger scale. In the case of the Genesis, robots laid down layer after layer of thermoplastic to produce the complex shape. EDAG says that it could also be done with carbon fiber as well to offer strength and lightness.

The company admits that this technology is still in its infancy, and we are still far away from large-scale industrial production of components like this. However, it is technically possible. It believes that fused deposition modeling could revolutionize the auto industry by allowing new, stronger designs. The Genesis isn't a car today, but it previews how they may be built tomorrow. Have a slightly more dynamic look at the concept in the video, below.

If you haven't taken the plunge into next-generation console racing yet, we can't recommend it highly enough. We were all but totally smitten when we got our first chance to play and review Forza Motorsport 5 this past fall, and still see the title as the crown jewel of the current lineup of Xbox One games. (Though admittedly we're biased about, you know, car games.)

Good news then, if you've been holding off on pulling the trigger until now: Forza and Xbox are offering a bundle. Starting on March 10 and running for a limited time, you can pick up an Xbox One for the retail price ($500), and get Forza 5 thrown in, normally $60 retail, gratis.

While the original source for the news is a bit shy in terms of detail, we reached out to Xbox for some further, more granular information on the deal. We can report that the bundle includes all the normal components that ship with XB1: Kinect sensor, one wireless controller and a headset. There won't be a physical disc for Forza in the box, but there will be a token for a digital download of the complete title. The file is about 34.32 GB, for what it's worth.

The Xbox team also indicated that the Forza bundle is a limited time, limited availability deal, and does not indicate a price reduction for the Xbox One hardware. We couldn't pin down a list of participating retailers, sadly, with our contacts saying that shoppers should confirm availability with their local retailers. Phone calls to a few big outlets in our area (Game Stop, Best Buy and Toys "R" Us) revealed the SKUs for the bundle are not in systems as yet, but we imagine we might be just ahead of the marketing push on this one. Game on.

Hidden amidst the overall very positive sales figures that Chrysler released earlier this week were a few disappointments, the biggest of which may be the Dodge Dart. While Dodge sales in general were down 11 percent from a year ago, the Dart's poor figures stood out from the rest – with 4,888 units sold, the Dart was down 37 percent in February.

It comes as little surprise, then, that the automaker has announced layoffs at its assembly plant in Belvidere, IL. According to The Daily Herald, Dodge will temporarily lay off 325 workers "to balance vehicle supply with current sales demand." Put more simply, there are more Darts than buyers at the moment...

We don't think the Dodge Dart is a bad car, but it's playing in a market that offers a few standout sellers, like the Chevy Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. According to AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan, as quoted by The Daily Herald, "great incentives on the Dodge Avenger" are also partly to blame for the Dart's poor showing.

In any case, these layoffs are supposed to last for a week, after which all three shifts of Dart production will presumably resume.

Renault's rear-engine Twingo isn't the only little French city car launching at the Geneva Motor Show. Peugeot has launched its new 108 as a more conventional front-engine, front-wheel-drive competitor.

The 108 is being offered as a three- or five-door hatchback with either a conventional fixed roof or retracting soft-top. A little hatch like this doesn't need a big engine, and Peugeot is giving buyers the choice of 68-horsepower 1.0-liter or 82-hp 1.2-liter three-cylinder engines. They are available with either a five-speed manual or five-speed electronically controlled gearbox.

It might not look it in the pictures, but the 108 is very tiny. At 136.6 inches long and 63.8 inches wide, it is slightly smaller than a Volkswagen Up. The new Peugeot shares its platform with the Toyota Aygo and Citroën C1, but all three cars have their own unique styling. If you were in the market for a European city car, which would you pick?

Fiat already offered its compact Panda in a slightly off-road oriented 4X4 trim, but at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show it's debuting the Panda Cross that takes the style even farther. The Panda Cross is meant to be a utilitarian hatchback that drivers can use in the dirt if the need arises.

The Cross comes standard with an all-wheel-drive system with a standard electronic-locking differential, and for added traction, drivers can lock the diff below 30 miles per hour. Power is provided by either a 1.3-liter diesel four-cylinder with 80 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque or the 900-cc turbocharged two-cylinder with 90 hp and 107 lb-ft. Both engines are mated to a six-speed manual.

On the outside, the Panda Cross gets a new front air dam that looks like drilled metal and fog lights integrated into the front end. The rear is reworked with chrome tailpipes and a bumper painted to look like a skid plate. The interior is a mix of fabric and pleather seats, plus a copper-colored dashboard. The Panda Cross will be on sale in Europe this fall, but don't expect to see it Stateside. Feel free to read more in the press release below.

In what could be called a case of carma, the Chinese plastic supplier that forced Aston Martin to recall about 75 percent of its production since 2007 now says that it has lost about most of its customers and is facing financial ruin. Shenzhen Kexiang Mould Tool Co. produced the accelerator pedal arms for most Aston Martin models out of a counterfeit plastic and may have to close its factory due to the scandal.

Shenzhen Kexiang claims no wrongdoing in the affair, saying the whole matter was caused by Aston Martin not fully understanding its supply chain. Its general manager Zhang Zhi Ang told Automotive News: "This whole situation is caused by Aston Martin." According to the automaker, its supplier, Fast Forward Tooling (HK) of Hong Kong, hired the molder as a sub-contractor to supply the part. Initially, Shenzhen Kexiang claimed to have never been contracted by the Hong Kong company, but later admitted that it wasn't sure if it made the parts because it worked for so many contractors, according to Automotive News.

Aston Martin found that the accelerator arms were produced from a counterfeit form of the DuPont plastic that it had requested for its sports cars. Initially the recall covered 689 2012-2013 vehicles but further research indicated that it went back as far as November 2007 for some models. Aston Martin says it will replace the throttle assemblies on the affected vehicles and that there have been no reported accidents or injuries caused by the counterfeit plastic.

Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo has two robocops on patrol. Well, they are technically stationary, but they're still keeping pedestrians in the country's capital safer. The city of about 10 million people suffers from choking traffic, and the eight-foot-tall, aluminum and steel robots are installed at two, high-traffic intersections to regulate traffic flow.

The $15,000, solar-powered bots were installed in June 2013 and were engineered by a team of local engineers to withstand the country's sweltering heat. So far they have been deemed a complete success. Their arms act as traffic signals, while their chests display whether it is safe for walkers to cross the street. A speaker also says whether it is safe to cross. Surveillance cameras are also mounted in the shoulders in case anyone attempts to disobey the traffic automaton's will. "With the robots' policemen intelligence, the road safety in Kinshasa becomes very easy," said Vale Manga Wilma, president of the DRC's National Commission for Road Safety to CNN.

While giant, humanoid traffic signal robots sound like something more likely to come out of Japan than the Democratic Republic of Congo, they merge the functions of human traffic officers and signal lights which means more cops patrolling the streets. Scroll down to watch a video of the robots in action and see the public's reaction to the new additions to the police force.