News

The top breaking news story for tonight is that UK-based parent company Aston Martin, newly independent from Ford, is being sued for US$50 million by its Dubai-based Middle East distributors because of an apparent breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed by Middle East Aston Martin (MEAM), claims one of the new owners of the carmaker, Kuwaiti investment group DAR, is planning to refinance its stake in the company (whatever that means) and has disallowed the distributor to renew its investment, according to Reuters news agency.

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The 2009 Nissan Maxima is soon going to debut at the 2008 New York Auto Show this week, but here are some early photos of the car, leaked onto the internet as usual. Let’s see the print magazines play catch-up with us.

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Anytime people in the UAE shop for vehicles in places such as Abu Shagara in Sharjah or Aweer in Dubai, there is a chance that the imported used car they are purchasing something stolen in another country. This place itself has become popular around the world as a shipping destination for stolen cars headed for Africa and Russia. It is good to know that Dubai Customs has been cracking down on this shadowy trade for a couple of years now.

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Photos of the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe have been leaked onto the interweb. Looks like both their new luxury sedan and this new coupe will share a name. No official details have been released.

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Kia showed off a bunch of cheesy tuner concepts, which came and went without any hype, at the Geneva Auto Show a few weeks ago. Those were a hint to the production-ready Kia Soul, which will debut at the Paris Auto Show later this year.

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UAE-based newspaper Gulf News conducted a survey to determine the types of transportation that people in the UAE use. Among the results, the most revealing is that 85% of the people who answered the survey have been refused a taxi journey based on their choice of destination, although there probably is more to those numbers than the newspaper is ready to admit. 15% are happy with the taxi service?

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That’s correct, our latest tester is not that golden Hyundai My-Name-Is-Neo or whatever. It’s the giant Avalanche next to it. Frankly, naming a truck after a natural disaster isn’t the smartest of moves, but it fits in a way, I guess. People should run away from one of these as they do from a real avalanche. Because this thing is huge. It is one of the largest vehicles we’ve ever tested, possibly beaten only by the Infiniti QX56 we got last Eid.

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In the early hours of March 11, an accidental chain reaction caused a massive pile-up in Abu Dhabi. Eight people died in the accident that involved as many as 200 vehicles on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway. Thirty-nine people were injured in this unprecedented accident that caused 92 vehicles to catch fire. The cause of the accident was heavy fog and, of course, speeding drivers.

Update: Latest reports suggest 60 cars, 3 dead and 350 injured.

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These are the latest additions to the New Car Buyer Guide. As usual, prices are a bit iffy, especially since they differ from city to city, and keep changing daily. Everything else should be in order, and more updates will follow later. Available information on some cars are limited, so do not hound me for any mistakes that might crop up, but do let me know so I can correct them. If the updates are not visible in your Internet Explorer browser, then press and hold CTRL, and CLICK on Refresh in the browser. And if you can’t figure out that instruction,

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Faralli & Mazzanti, Italian builders of the custom Antas that we checked out last month, have added the V12-powered Vulca to their portfolio.

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