After turning the popular midsize sedan, sub-compact sedan and compact crossover segments on their heads with truly unique designs, Korean carmaker Hyundai still have the compact sedan segment to contend with, what with the lacklustre Elantra being their current offering. But the all-new 2011 Hyundai Elantra is just around the corner, and it is an absolute stunner.
Ford’s successful transformation plan is in full gear in the Middle East as the company closes the first quarter of 2010 on a high note, with an outstanding 43 per cent growth over the same period last year across the GCC, while the industry is estimated to have grown by about 5%.
The new 2011 Lotus Elise combines performance with some astonishing fuel efficiency numbers.
The swoopy new 2011 Hyundai Sonata was officially launched in the UAE, at a launch party in Dubai. The launch comes four months after the model was shown off at the 2009 Dubai Motor Show, and two months after a media driving event in Oman that we weren’t invited to.
McLaren Automotive has released more details about its expectations for, the Middle East market, where it will launch the first in its range of high performance sports cars from spring 2011. The announcement follows the world debut of the new McLaren MP4-12C at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England, where the two most recent Formula 1 world champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, unveiled the new car.
The McLaren MP4-12C, the new supercar with the forgettable name and the derivative styling, might still have some hope in the exotic performance arena. In a field dominated by Ferrari, Porsche and even Nissan, the McLaren may at least match them all with respectable performance numbers.
Toyota and Honda are proceeding with recall campaigns in some GCC countries. Toyota is offering a free fix for affected Avalon and Sequoia owners, while Honda will do complimentary work on a handful of Odyssey minivans.
Ford has quite a few reasons to smile lately, with the company posting an outstanding full year net income of $2.7 billion. Ford, the only one of the Big Three U.S. automakers that did not opt for a government bailout last year, posted an improvement of US$17.5 billion from 2008, or 86 cents per share, driven in part by favorable net pricing, structural cost reductions, net gains on debt reduction actions and strong Ford Credit results.
One of our readers reports that the 2010 Lexus GX460 is now on sale at showrooms in Dubai, and likely in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere too. In fact, the model is so fresh that the floor salespeople are confused about what it is and giving hilarious answers to customer queries, such as how it is bigger than the 2010 Toyota Prado.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has confirmed a strong performance in the Middle East region in 2009. Worldwide every fifth Rolls-Royce is sold in the Middle East with its 8 dealerships in 6 countries.