For customers in East Asian countries such as Malaysia, fuel costs are a priority as petrol prices are rather high. To satisfy those who want a big car without the associated running costs, Honda is now offering a 2.0-litre variant in these countries.
Kia Motors dealers in the UAE still haven’t gotten around to selling the 2010 Cerato compact sedan yet, but in its Korean home market where it is known as the Forte, Kia is already offering their first commercial hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), the Forte Liquid Petroleum Injection (LPI) Hybrid.
I asked for a GCC-spec Nissan GT-R back in March, after it seemed every magazine had driven it. Four months later and we finally got it from Nissan Middle East. I had lost all enthusiasm for this car by then and was ready to show my displeasure in the review. But slipping into the driver’s seat for the first time, putting it in gear and then pressing the accelerator pedal, the first thing I said was…
Some have accused us of being behind in news. And they’d be right. We’d prefer to be first in local automotive news, but are constantly left out of the loop by the local offices of car companies because, you know, no one uses the internet to look at cars. Take, for instance, the Lexus IS 300 C. Apparently the convertible version of the IS 300 sedan has been launched in the UAE, while all the local magazines have already test-driven it. And here we are, just hearing about the GCC version for the first time in those very magazines.
The production-version Nissan GT-R SpecV made its first official public appearance at some event called the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, which ran from July 3rd to the 5th. Nissan’s Dubai office says that the GCC version of the GT-R SpecV will make its UAE debut in early 2010.
Most car enthusiasts know of the Mitsuoka Orochi, an organic “supercar” that started life as a concept car in 2001, and finally reaching production in late 2006. Built by Mitsuoka Motors in Japan, the final version turned out to be popular only for its styling, as it was powered by a basic 230 hp 3.3-litre Toyota V6. However, few know about the custom coach-building activities of the Japanese company. Mitsuoka is active in their home-country, rebuildling current-generation Japanese cars to resemble British vehicles of the 1950s and 1960s. And some of their creations are downright hokey.
The all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z will supposedly come to the UAE sometime this August, according to the company’s Dubai office. But while rumours persist that its launch could be delayed to 2010 in the GCC, the Brits already have a special edition, with the debut of the 370Z Yellow in the United Kingdom.
As pointed out by Akif, one of our readers, a real photo of the 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado has been leaked onto the internet. The photo appears to be real, and has “internal use only” marked across it.
In an embarrassingly desperate move by struggling supercar-maker Aston Martin, the Kuwaiti-owned British company has developed a new luxury commuter concept, dubbed the Cygnet. Named after a baby swan, the mini-car directly bases itself on the Euro-spec Toyota iQ, but with a slant towards more luxury.
The previous version of the Honda Stream was briefly available in the UAE, offering minivan space in the body of a tall wagon, but it was cancelled a long time ago. The latest version of the Stream is going strong in Japan though, and Honda is offering a Mugen body kit for it, in true Honda-fanboy fashion.