We have been following the rise of Chinese cars in the Middle East with a lot of interest now. The barrage of new brands and models has been ongoing for the past decade now, but all the offerings have been lacklustre in one way or the other. They are getting better with every iteration though. So when we got the new Haval H2 for a test-drive, we were hoping China’s carmakers have finally caught up to the competition.
Cafu, the region’s first on-demand petrol delivery service, has announced that they will now offer their “SuperShine” car wash service in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
The Lexus LS, Toyota’s full-size luxury sedan, is still around, lest you forgot about it with the big-nostrilled BMW 7-Series taking up the limelight and the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class around the corner. Lexus has gone ahead and given the 2021 Lexus LS a bit more tech to stay relevant. And yes, it finally gets a touchscreen.
ADNOC Distribution, the Abu Dhabi-based fuel and convenience retailer with outlets all across the UAE, has announced that customers can now earn loyalty points on every purchase of fuel and non-fuel products as part of their rewards programme, ADNOC Rewards.
In the Philippines, Toyota has revealed the Yaris with a new face. Known as the Vios there, the design update to the front looks quite familiar to the previous generation Toyota Camry which was sold here.
Dubai-based fuel-delivery start-up Cafu has removed its delivery charges and will now offer their services for free.
Hard to believe that it’s been 8 years since the Volkswagen Passat’s last full redesign in 2012. That was the year when the European Passat and the American Passat diverged into two distinct cars, as the latter became a larger car with class-leading space for a midsize sedan, but also less sophisticated in terms of execution and features. The GCC market gets the American one. And it’s now on its second facelift, the first one being back in 2016.
SUVs are so popular nowadays that they have all but eliminated market share for almost all other types of passenger vehicles, not least of them minivans. So to update their 2021 Kia Carnival, Kia took inspiration from the very popular “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome” meme. The new Carnival minivan has been infused with SUV styling elements to keep its head high in this raging sea of SUVs.
The arrival of the Ford Bronco is expected to be quite a hit on Jeep Wrangler (and Gladiator) sales, the only occupant of that segment (not counting leftover Toyota FJ Cruisers). But Jeep is not ready to let go of the throne that quick. Just hours before Ford unwrapped the Bronco, Jeep attempted to troll Ford by also revealing the V8-powered Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, if only as a concept that they are strongly hinting will go into production. In other news, the new company formed after the Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) and Peugeot (PSA) merger will be called Stellantis.
Nissan has just introduced the production version of the all-new Nissan Ariya, an electric crossover SUV that we last saw as a concept on our trip to the Tokyo Motor Show late last year.