Abu Dhabi Motors, the exclusive importer for BMW, MINI and ALPINA as well as the sole dealer for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain has succeeded in becoming BMW Group’s number one retailer of BMW cars in the Middle East for the first five months of 2010.
Forgotten British sports-car maker Aston Martin, now owned by a troubled Kuwaiti investment fund, has mildly updated their aging DB9 grand tourer model, largely to bring it in line with newer cars when it comes to infotainment tech.
The entire existing Mini range has been facelifted for the 2011 model year, including the Convertible and the Clubman. Available from September in Europe, the changes relevant to the GCC are cosmetic only, as the petrol engines are carried over unchanged.
It looks like Oman is the first country in the GCC to receive the all-new 2011 Kia Sportage. Apparently launched by the middle of June, the new Sportage offers similar equipment packages to the Hyundai Tucson, on which it is based.
Our long-term 2010 Chevrolet Malibu had been taken away for more than a week for an agency photo shoot, during which time we cruised around in a courtesy Cruze. Our Malibu is back now, with about 500 additional kilos on the clock. As interesting as the Cruze is, upgrading to a Malibu again is like getting bumped up to first-class. In fact, on the day we got it back, we took it along when we returned the Accord Crosstour to the Honda Middle East HQ. We gave a tour of the Malibu to a person from Honda, and he uttered the words “wow nice”
Among the clutter of tuner cars at the SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas last year, Chevrolet showed off a V6-powered Camaro with a body kit and a painfully green paintjob. Dubbed the Synergy Special Edition, that car will now be offered as a limited-edition trim level, with some coming to the GCC soon.
We’re one of the first people to test the all-new 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour in the GCC. So fresh it is that this is the same opal-green car that was displayed at the Atlantis launch event less than a week ago, and it still has less than 400 km on the clock. We’ll have to say though, that the car isn’t really as revolting in person as it is in photos. In fact, we’d go as far as calling it “nice” in an oddball way.
The American-market Honda Accord has received a facelift for 2011, which amounts to little more than a nose-job and a bit of fiddling with the tail lamps. Engine choices and transmissions remain the same, although a few bits of equipment have been added.
Few companies offer media drives of their all-new models in the UAE itself before they become available to consumers. And we don’t get invited to most of them because they are afraid of us. However, Fiat is making a comeback in the region, and they did invite us to their 2010 Bravo unveiling in Abu Dhabi, complete with a fleet of European-spec test cars for the event.
Alongside the stunningly popular Honda Accord Crosstour, Honda also revealed a pair of motorcycles at a UAE press event in Dubai. One would be the VT1300CX and the other is the VFR1200F. Both are niche products for Honda, considering they are better known for their superbikes.