GCC

This website’s financial situation is just ridiculous. Running solely out of my pocket, I am now proud to point out that we now have the largest English automotive website in the GCC (according to semi-accurate alexa.com), and yet, we hardly get call-backs from advertisers that we got in touch with. All those other corporation-owned car sites seem to be overflowing with ads and here we are, trying to prove that we even exist. I guess bullshit works in the sales business, as each of those other sites claim to be the “leading” one in the region,

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The 2009 Hummer H3T, which was revealed in the United States ages ago, has finally been given the go-ahead for a GCC launch in November this year, after months of testing in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

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Volkswagen Middle East has recently introduced their Jetta GLI in this region, years after it originally debuted in America. The Jetta GLI is essentially a sedan version of the Golf GTI, except that it looks awful and is built in Mexico.

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The 2009 Ford Fusion debuts in the Middle East this September. The Fusion, based on the older stretched Mazda 6 platform and designed for America, is a bit of an odd choice to bring to the GCC, especially when the Euro-market Mondeo is already sold here.

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One of our readers, Mohamad, pointed us to this thread on nissan-arabia.com, showing local photos of the GCC-spec Renault “mystery sedan” that we exposed some time ago. It looks like the new sedan will revive the Renault Safrane nameplate for this Japanese-designed Korean-built French-badged car.

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Renault Middle East sent us news that they will launch a new midsize sedan in the GCC during September. They even sent us a teaser photo of the unnamed car, showing only a tail-light. That was enough for me to figure out that the car will be a rebadged version of the Korean-built Nissan-derived Samsung SM5.

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One of our readers, Mohamad, pointed us to a thread at nissan-arabia.com, showcasing photos of a consignment of seven American-spec 2008 Nissan GT-R models which have made their way to Abu Dhabi for local customers who can’t wait till next year’s release of a GCC-spec version. The same reader also spotted a GT-R at a Nissan workshop in Dubai, probably used for technician training. Yet another reader, Don, spotted the all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima trundling around at a freezone in Dubai, which is the first real confirmation that the new Maxima is indeed coming to the GCC.

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The compact Audi Q5, designed to go against the BMW X3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLK, has been unveiled at the Auto China show in Beijing. While it brings absolutely nothing original to the table, initial unconfirmed reports suggest it will be built in China as well as Germany.

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The not-so-prominent 2008 Chicago Auto Show is on its way, and their main exhibit seems to be the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8, dubbed as a limited-edition 2008 model. Official specs and performance figures have finally been revealed.

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