The 2011 Kia Optima is hot. It is so hot that it is sold out wherever it has been launched so far. It is sold out in the UAE too, and it isn’t even out yet officially. The car will hit GCC roads by the first week of November, but Kia organised an all-day media test-drive in Dubai.
Power is the No.1 intoxicant in the world. That’s why Bill Clinton was more powerful than Bill Gates a few years ago; Barack Obama is more powerful than Warren Buffet now. That’s why Sonia Gandhi is more in demand in India than Mukesh Ambani. In our history lessons, we read how several royals, in their quest to quench their thirst for power, slaughtered their own family members. Power is such a powerful intoxicant that Indian politicians do not hesitate to create rift and evoke hatred in their own families, caste, creed, religion, state or region to crawl towards it.
Mitsubishi held its GCC launch event for their all-new 2011 ASX sub-compact crossover at the Dubai Autodrome racetrack a couple of weeks ago. To make things interesting, they even had a few 2010 Nissan Qashqai crossovers at hand for comparison. Incidentally, the Qashqai has been facelifted for 2011, though changes are minimal.
The 23rd of September 2010 marked the 75th anniversary of the Jaguar marque. To mark the occasion, a group of 75 individually-numbered, iconic Jaguars from across the years made a two-day journey from Coventry to Goodwood. This exclusive celebration drive, starting in Coventry on the 17th of September, commenced in London’s May Fair hotel, which is the site of the original Jaguar model launch in 1935, and finished at the UK’s largest heritage motor festival, the Goodwood Revival on the 18th.
While we were trolling around in Dubai looking for a midsize sedan to buy, we came across this attractive compact car, fully registered, and driven by staff from Arabian Automobiles, who happen to be the local dealers for Nissan, Infiniti and Renault here. On closer inspection, “SAIC” badges revealed its Chinese origins. It was also badged as an MG 550 1.8T. Those who keep track of such things will know that Chinese carmaker SAIC now owns the MG brand as well as some bits of Rover. On further pestering, the “owner” told us that Arabian Automobiles has handed out a bunch of these cars to staff members a couple of months ago,
Here is a scenario that happened to us just last week. We asked for a full tank of petrol at the station for our Chevrolet Cruze, which was already 60% full. The attendant put in the pump nozzle and left. The tank was then full and the nozzle “clicked” and stopped pumping at Dhs 39.40 only. So I pull out 40 bucks in cash, ready to hand it over. The attendant came over and started forcefully pumping more petrol into the tank, even as the nozzle clicked several times. This pushed up the bill to Dhs 42. The ironic bit is no one ever receives extra petrol after the first click.
The holy month of Ramadan is a time for being humble and hungry, so it pains us to see it being turned into a commercial enterprise where hotels that generally serve booze year-round try to entice customers with overpriced “ramadan tents” and car dealers start offering interest-laden products with “take loan now, get screwed later” offers. However, we don’t really mind genuine discounts in the spirit of Ramadan, and as such, the car market comes alive during this time. We just had a boost in traffic to our website thanks to people researching various models for purchase. Here is a list of the top 10 most researched vehicles on our website this Ramadan,
While some say that car sales are picking up around the world, the recession is busy taking names and beating up stragglers in the automotive marketplace. Manufacturers are keen on cutting models that are underperforming in terms of sales, either because demand has subsided or because they were niche models in the first place. Here is a list of eight good cars that have either been confirmed for cancellation soon or have rumours circling in the media about their demise.
The Chevrolet Suburban is, or was, very popular in the United States and continues to be popular in GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, where the ability to carry your ten children over rugged terrain is a daily necessity. Surprisingly, the Chevrolet Suburban has been in existence for 75 long years, and GM estimates that up to 2.4 million have been built. General Motors decided to celebrate by bringing together all the iterations of the Suburban over the years for an American media jaunt, while conveniently ignoring the rebadged GMC version. Models from 1936, 1946, 1951, 1966, 1972, 1990,
“Vroomm…whoa!!! What zoomed past me just now? RX-8? Naah, the badge says..oh wait, it reads Mazda 6…WHAT?” Well, that was sort of an exaggeration for a car like the 6 – mind you all, I am making mention of not the Ultra but the smaller and cuter Japanese variant here; no, I am not underestimating it either. But unlike what Mazda boasts about the 6, the car isn’t really all about zoom-zoom (in a positive sense).