Volkswagen Middle East has responded to weak demand from its regional customers with a five-seater option and R-Line version of the popular four-door Volkswagen CC. Previously, the base model CC was designed to carry only four persons.
Al-Futtaim Motors, the exclusive distributor for Toyota in the UAE, welcomed Australia’s Victoria Premier, the Honourable Mr John Brumby to the flagship Toyota showroom in Dubai Festival City to view the Australian built Toyota Camry.
The local dealer for Nissan organised an event for safari tour companies in the UAE to thoroughly test the all-new 2010 Nissan Patrol in the local deserts. Dubbed regionally as the ‘Hero of all Terrain’, the 2010 Patrol just recently went on sale on April 1st at showrooms across the UAE, and Nissan seems keen to make tour operators replace their Toyota Land Cruisers with Nissan Patrols.
Al Tayer Motors, the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury importer in the United Arab Emirates, together with Premier Motors – its subsidiary in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, was recently honoured by Ford Middle East for achieving the highest Customer Satisfaction Index rating among all Ford dealers in the Middle East for 2009.
The Toyota Sequoia caused a riot among faithful followers of the Japanese brand when they released this behemoth in two-wheel-drive “city SUV” trim last year. The big guy had been on sale for years before that in the United States, being built there too. But once the recession hit, America’s new-found focus on “green” cars meant that excess supplies of the truck started being sent here. And now it is finally being offered in offroad-capable 4×4 form.
After going on sale in some GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing was officially unveiled in Kuwait recently.
The Chrysler 300 is a remnant of the firm’s brief glory days, just half a decade ago, when the first real fruit of the DaimlerChrysler merger allowed the American company to create a balanced rear-wheel-drive exotic sedan using Mercedes-Benz underpinnings. It sold well, right up till the recession, at which point the focus shifted to fuel-efficient cars and suddenly Chrysler was considered a dinosaur by the fickle public. But the 300 remains an awesome car, even if going by looks alone.
Chrysler has issued a recall for six different 2010 models in the United States. More than 40,000 Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles are affected by a problem where drivers might be able to remove the key from the ignition before the vehicle is shifted into ‘Park,’ which could cause the vehicle to run away on its own.
The U.S. NHTSA safety agency has announced a recall for the 2010 Subaru Outback or Legacy equipped with a CVT transmission. The recall is for 29,443 Legacy and Outback models, for a crack that can occur in the CVT cooler hose that could result in a fluid leak. The only vehicles affected by the recall are the ones built between July 31 and December 1, 2009 at Subaru’s U.S. factories.
Another day, another Porsche 911 variant. We’ve pretty much lost track of these “new” models since 2005, as the German firm kept churning out version after version of the same car, with minor differences between each model. The latest variant is the 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS.