AW Rostamani Trading, dealers for Nissan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, is now also going to be the dealership for Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile (ZNA) in the UAE. ZNA is one of China’s “biggest” automotive manufacturers that was established in 1993 in partnership with Nissan.
We went to the launch of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East launch yesterday at the Dubai Autodrome, on which we’ll report later. But more interestingly, there was a display of six classic cars, all shipped in from the Porsche Museum in Germany.
Chrysler is on a bit of a roll, upgrading the interiors on almost all their existing models in a bit to improve their image as well as sales. The latest model to benefit is the 2011 Dodge Avenger midsize sedan, which also receives a new engine option.
The 2010 Sharjah Auto Show in October also played host to the first Middle East Motor Tuning Show, which in turn hosted the 2010 Custom Design Cup. Around the Middle East, everyone with a penchant for drawing cars were invited to submit their ideas on how to modify a 2010 Ford Mustang GT, visual exterior and interior only. Ten judges, including me, were asked to rate the designs based on various criteria and whether they were feasible. I also had the additional task of flagging through copy-pasted designs taken off the internet. My job was to just use a points system for rating,
After numerous complaints by owners, threats of a lawsuit and lambasting on U.S. news channels, BMW’s American arm is now conducting a full recall on all models fitted with the “award-winning” turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-6 engine due to reports of fuel pump failure.
It is rather amazing how some car manufacturers are actually going backwards in design and creating dullards like the “all-new” VW Passat, the Audi A6 and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. And then there are some manufacturers whose newest models pretty much look as if they belong at an auto show as a concept car. Like the Infiniti M, the Hyundai Sonata, the Kia Optima, and now the 2011 Volvo S60.
In its third biggest worldwide recall ever, Nissan is “voluntarily” recalling 2.14 million vehicles around the globe for an engine stall defect. Around 15,000 cars in the UAE are also affected.
The 2011 Kia Optima is hot. It is so hot that it is sold out wherever it has been launched so far. It is sold out in the UAE too, and it isn’t even out yet officially. The car will hit GCC roads by the first week of November, but Kia organised an all-day media test-drive in Dubai.
Ford Middle East has finally launched the “new” 2011 Edge crossover in the UAE, although its first public debut was simply a display at the expensive GITEX tech trade show in Dubai.
In an interesting twist to Toyota’s latest recall, Honda has announced that it is recalling a total of 470,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to the same failing master cylinder problem that caused Toyota to recall 1.66 million vehicles worldwide a few days ago.