Asian Car News

For a taste of what we don’t get here, for one reason or another, here is the 2011 Kia Sportage SX Turbo that just debuted in the United States.

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For those not in the know, a hybrid is a car with a petrol engine that also has an electric motor attached that provides additional power when needed and recharges its battery as the car moves, all while saving petrol, saving the environment and saving the whales. The theory goes that petrol is cheap in the GCC, so no one cares about hybrid cars. While that is definitely true, we live in the UAE, which boasts the highest petrol prices in the region and is proudly increasing prices further to match international market rates eventually. Suddenly, a hybrid doesn’t seem like a bad idea after all.

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Toyota has already confirmed that the FT-86 sports car, the spiritual successor to the 1980s “AE86” Corolla, is set for production. This is the third concept to show off the car, a bit different than before and closer to the actual version that will hit showrooms in late 2012 as a 2013 model.

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At the risk of sounding like an iPod on loop mode, we’ll say again that the 2011 Infiniti QX56 is a big car. That also made our latest economy test more interesting. Is it possible to drive one of the largest 4x4s on the planet without hurting the planet, or more importantly, your wallet?

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Al-Futtaim Motors, the Lexus dealers in the UAE, is launching the 2012 Lexus CT 200h hybrid publicly with a free 3D show at The Walk in Jumeirah Beach Residence for Dubai residents. It takes place on March 3, from 7pm onwards and is open to all.

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The 2012 Hyundai Accent isn’t a car anyone was anxiously waiting for. That isn’t to say no one anticipates sub-compact cars with sweaty palms. The launch of the next-generation Toyota Yaris is going to be a big event in the lives of many in the UAE. Nothing else comes close to the Yaris in popularity. The Accent has always been sidelined. However, we just drove the all-new 2012 Hyundai Accent from Dubai to Fujairah and back, and it’s a car that can give Toyota some sleepless nights.

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Casual video interview with Simon Frith, the Managing Director of Al Futtaim Motors, the UAE dealer for Toyota. Topics include the Toyota Zelas launch during the 2010 Abu Dhabi Motor Show, the FT-86 launch date, the rising prices, the best sellers and the surprising sales figures for the Toyota Land Cruiser range.

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There is absolutely nothing to report on this car. Absolutely nothing. It is running fine, just as it has been since we bought it last Ramadan. And that is exactly how we like it.

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As we experienced on our trip to Hatta, the 2011 Infiniti QX56 comes standard with a built-in living-room, complete with leather sofas and LCD televisions. The cabin is nothing like the one in the older Armada-based model that we tested a couple of years ago.

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The Toyota unintended-acceleration recall scandal is famous around the world now, although it seems as if the Americans actually did anything about it. The U.S. Department of Transportation enlisted the help of NASA scientists, the same ones responsible for the American space programme, to have a look at the issues and software within Toyota and Lexus cars to see if the excessive unintended-acceleration claims had any electronic basis, as claimed by some. The engineers could not find anything pointing to an electronic problem.

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