The all-new 2010 Kia sorento was unveiled for its Korean home market, at the 2009 Seoul Auto Show. The existing 2009 Sorento is a truck-based offroad-capable midsize SUV that never sold well in major markets, including in the GCC. So Kia decided to turn it into a car-based “crossover” SUV instead.
The Subaru Legacy, an attractive and sporty Japanese midsize sedan that had everything going for it, is a massive flop in the UAE and certainly in most countries of the GCC. It looks like Subaru will take another shot at increasing their numbers on the streets of Dubai, and indeed the rest of the world, by unveiling a new iteration of the Legacy. Dubbed the “roomiest Legacy sedan ever with new levels of comfort and refinement,” it seems to have given up its handsome looks to gain a practical image.
Continuing our theme of oversized body kits for oversized egos, here is a body kit for the Toyota Land Cruiser by Japanese kit-maker Wald. Called the BLACK BISON package, it is nothing more than a styling package.
The respected American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has launched a new roof strength rating system to help consumers pick vehicles that will help protect them in rollover crashes. Twelve small SUVs were the first to be put to the test. Only 4 earn the top rating of good. The Subaru Forester and even the Jeep Patriot, among others, have the strongest rated roofs, while the Kia Sportage has the weakest among the 2008-2009 models evaluated. A report like may be enough reason for some consumers to keep shunning Korean cars. But the Honda CR-V and the Ford Escape only did slightly better.
I wasn’t planning to ask for the 2009 Honda City, but when Honda ME called me up and suddenly offered it to me this weekend, I agreed as usual. The previous Honda City was a cartoon-mobile that was embarrassing to be seen in, but this new one looked interesting from the day that spy shots started appearing last year, enough for me to dedicate posts to it.
Tata always intended to sell a “proper” version of the tub-on-wheels Nano in European countries. The fact that the upgraded version actually looks nice is always a good sign that it might do well.
It would seem the Lexus has launched their girly new SUV in Dubai, the 2010 RX350, and did not even tell us. While us being kept in the dark for various products is only getting worse, I heard elsewhere that they plan to target this one towards women, so any men out there who thought about buying an RX — you’ve been warned.
The GCC market gets the 7-seater Mazda CX-9, but the rest of the world also gets a shorter and sportier 5-seater CX-7 model. And that CX-7 has already reached the point where it needed a facelift to stay fresh, so the 2010 model gets a smiley new face to go with a new engine choice.
The Geneva Auto Show is one of Europe’s major motor shows, if not the world. This year, even with the recession, there are an obscene number of supercar launches, although a few others have concentrated on greener cars as well. The 2009 show also plays host to some important new launches, such as the Mazda 3 MPS, the Chevrolet Spark, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe and the Opel Ampera.
The 2010 Toyota Camry will be out in the GCC by summer. The Camry models that come here are built in Australia, and now, that factory will add a hybrid model to their line-up. To celebrate the hybrid version of the Camry, Toyota Australia created this one-off concept for the 2009 Melbourne Auto Show, called the HC-CV.