UAE

Created solely for the United States market back when big SUVs were popular there, the American-built Toyota Sequoia received a redesign in 2008. Based on the American Toyota Tundra pickup truck, the brutishly big Sequoia makes the Land Cruiser look like a RAV-4, and intended to compete with the Chevy Suburban and the Nissan Armada. And then the U.S. economy went to hell, so Toyota decided to send those hard-to-sell trucks in the GCC instead, where things are a bit better. And therefore the 2009 Toyota Sequoia was launched yesterday in Dubai.

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For a long while, Ford had been publicly boasting about their development of a new turbocharged series of engines. The first of these has now been unveiled in not one, but three different models. The new EcoBoost engine will be an available option in the Ford Flex, the Lincoln MKS and the all-new Flex-based Lincoln MKT, all debuting at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

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The 2009 Peugeot 407 is now on sale in Dubai and the UAE. The new model receives a minor facelift, but engine choices remain the same as before.

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General Motors Middle East is heavily promoting the 2009 Chevrolet Aveo5 hatchback as a hip new car for young people. As part of a major advertising campaign (which we’ve been left out of), the Aveo5 is being touted as base for customisations with various dealer-installed modifications, all under warranty.

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We recently got this Jaguar XKR Portfolio in our stable for a few days. Since we had already tested the standard Jaguar XKR earlier this year, reviewing this largely-similar car would’ve been repetitive, so we used it for a photo-shoot around random places in Dubai. The photos were taken by Rashmi Michael.

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The soon-to-be-implemented rule banning 20-year-old cars in the Emirates was overturned today by none other than Sheikh Khalifa, president of the UAE. It is just as well, considering the economic problems that are setting in, and new car purchases are the first thing that went down.

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In what amounts to a restriction of personal freedom for people of limited income, UAE’s Sharjah traffic agencies have enacted a ban on issuing driving licences for people in jobs that fall in 100 categories. According to Gulf News, the ban will affect nurses, cooks, carpenters, housemaids, watchmen, tailors, cafeteria waiters, unskilled labourers, gardeners and bakers, among others. The paper confirmed that only Sharjah is implementing the rule.

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The latest generation of the Mini convertible will finally be released at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The new-for-2009 model will of course be based on the second-generation Mini Cooper that was launched in 2007.

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Lexus unveiled the all-new 2010 RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. The RX supposedly pioneered the car-based luxury SUV segment when it launched in 1998 for he American market. The new model continues that old formula almost exactly.

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