Ford hosted yet another driving event for the public, this time at the Dubai Festival City over the weekend. This latest “Ford Factor” event featured the Explorer, the Edge, the Taurus, the Figo, the F-150 and the all-new Focus.
Volkswagen Middle East showed off three new models at the 2011 Dubai Motor Show, destined for showrooms in the UAE and other GCC countries. The first one is the facelifted 2012 VW Tiguan, which has already been on sale for the past month. The second is the VW Scirocco R joining the VW Golf R, finally making its local debut after two years since its European intro. And the third is the VW Amarok, the Argentinian-built pickup that seemingly targets both the poseur-class and the working-class crowds.
The “British” brand with a Chinese base, MG launched three new models at the 2011 Dubai Motor Show. On display alongside huge British flags were the MG 350, the MG 3 and the MG 6, joining the MG 550 and the MG 750 that debuted earlier this year in the UAE. If the naming convention confuses you, we haven’t figured it out either.
Peugeot has finally launched the 508 sedan in the GCC, debuting it at the 2011 Dubai Motor Show. Available for more than a year in Europe, the 508 is intended to be a replacement for both the 407 and the 607.
The 2012 Lexus ES 350 is now available in the UAE, and looks the same as before. The best way to spot it is by the dealer-installed LED driving lights up front.
The 2011 Dubai Motor Show, held from the 10th to the 14th of November, remains the biggest auto show in the region, with multiple GCC launches and large stands showcasing cars that will hit the market soon as 2012 models. Among the notable debuts were the new Toyota Camry, Nissan Sunny, Kia Rio, Hyundai Veloster, Mazda CX-5, Volkswagen Scirocco R, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, Ford Focus, BMW M5 and many more. Photos by Faisal Khatib.
The 4th DriveArabia Meet was held on October 1st at the Dubai Outlet Mall. The “chief guest” of our small gathering was the 2012 Volkswagen Golf GTI. It was great again, as some of our regulars showed up, as well as some new faces. We had some fun doing repeated runs with the VW’s awesome automatic parallel-parking system, checking out how tight of a spot it could fit into. Some of the attendees shown up later in the night, during the free DriveArabia-sponsored dinner, so they are unfortunately not in these pictures.
This Friday, BMW Middle East held the Mini “Drive Out Loud” festival at the Dubai Autodrome. The event hosted Mini owners from around the Middle East. Entry was open to the public, though ticket prices were pegged at Dhs 100.
Driving while sitting two inches away from a raspy high-revving engine is rather uncommon for most people. It’d mean you’re either driving a Ferrari 458 or a Toyota Hiace. But somewhere in between is the Porsche Cayman, supposedly the most balanced sports car in the world. We can now confirm that, after our stint with the Cayman R.
Competition in the sub-compact segment is heating up, with entries such as the Hyundai Accent, the Honda Jazz and the Ford Fiesta pushing the boundaries of what is possible with small cars. And soon after we drove the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic for the first time, we were invited to the UAE launch of the all-new 2012 Toyota Yaris. Thus far, the Yaris has remained the segment leader, but we were eager to find out if it could maintain that lead.