Asian Car News

At first it was the Chinese Chevy Sail, then the new Hyundai Elantra, and now there, I’ve spotted the all-new 2011 Chevrolet Spark. Looks like I hit a hat-trick with ‘spotting’ new cars.

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Nominated new car models have now been announced for the 2011 Middle East Motor Awards. Vice President of the FIA and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE Mohammed ben Sulayem has offered his full support to the region’s largest motor awards, which are set to take place on November 3rd later this year at the Sharjah Expo Centre. I am a member of the judging committee, although my influence on this list was limited, considering there are 18 judges this year!

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Kia has come such a long way in such a short time. Once the maker of unreliable tin cans that wouldn’t sell even though cheap, now they are among the best carmakers in the business, with class-leading build quality, ground-breaking styling and still keeping it all relatively cheap. Their bestseller in the UAE is obviously the Kia Sportage. Out since late last year, the 2011 model is already a common sight on Dubai roads. So when we picked up this white tester, we knew we weren’t going to come up with a convincing review. Many people were already convinced.

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Scion — Toyota’s pointless “youth brand” exclusively present in the U.S. market — has lifted covers off their latest FR-S Sports Coupe Concept at the 2011 New York Auto Show. The FR-S Coupe Concept is based on the Toyota FT-86 Concept and even looks somewhat the same.

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While taking a walk around Sharjah I happened to spot this weird tiny car parked right next to an elegant Chevy Malibu wearing the same bowtie badge. A walk around it and the badges read a plain ‘Sail’. It was a manual variant with an interior as plain as the Empty Quarter; or maybe the Empty Quarter looked better. The front looks fine, rear looks ugly and the whole thing looked as if some revengeful dismissed ex-designer from Chevrolet had messed up with the Aveo design.

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Hyundai seems to have quietly launched the all-new 2012 Elantra in Oman, though their website has not yet been updated. The vehicle in these pictures was spotted when parked in front of a hotel located in a residential area of Sharjah known for its thriving used car market. The vehicle is registered in Oman and seemed to be some mid-option model with fog lamps. Oman has traditionally received new Hyundai and Kia models several months before the UAE, due to their massive popularity there.

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Al Rostamani Trading Company, the sole distributor of Suzuki in the UAE has quietly launched their sporty midsize sedan, the new Kizashi, as a 2012 model in its showrooms. The much-hyped Suzuki Kizashi had been launched in Oman almost a year back and 6 months ago in Saudi Arabia.

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The covers have been lifted off the fourth-generation Subaru Impreza at the 2011 New York International Auto Show. The new Impreza from the not-so-popular brand is now bigger and better, offering its customers more space, better interior quality and features, and “allegedly” better performance.

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It was a double surprise as Nissan revealed two different versions of the next-generation Tiida at two different motor-shows in a span of 2 days. As we previously reported about the Chinese Sunny being the new Tiida sedan, the new Sunny debuted as the Versa, currently known as Tiida in the GCC, at the 2011 New York Auto Show, without a hatchback equivalent. Yet, at almost the same time, Nissan revealed a new Tiida hatchback at the 2011 Shanghai Motor Show that is a completely different car. Make sense?

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Remember that quirky youth car from Kia, strangely called “Soul”? Although, not as extremely popular as the Sportage or even the Cerato, Kia has decided to spice up the competition by giving it a mid-cycle update. At the 2011 New York Auto Show, the 2012 Kia Soul was revealed with some welcome improvements, including new styling and mechanicals.

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