The Mazda 3 has been updated for the 2010 model year with a smiley new look and a new set of engines. Now Japanese and American markets will get a hotter variant of the new hatchback, with the re-introduction of the Mazdaspeed 3. Of course, as before, the GCC probably will not be getting any Mazdaspeed models.
The 2010 Toyota Camry, first shown at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show recently, has quietly received a minor facelift and an engine upgrade.
About a year ago, some research company contacted me to discuss the Hyundai Genesis and how it would fit in the GCC car market, while Korean executives directly from Hyundai viewed my opinions from another room, with no involvement from local dealers. Anyway, I told them that no one would pay much more than Dhs 100,000 for a Hyundai sedan in this region, no matter how good it might be. I said to work on building their brand image first, or to create a separate luxury brand for the Genesis. I told them to price the fully-optioned V8 Genesis at Dhs 130,000 maximum.
While the appetite for petrol-hogs drive economies here, hybrid-electric cars continue to evolve in Western markets, with the introduction of the 2010 Toyota Prius and the 2010 Honda Insight at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Both are very similar cars, and both come with a petrol engine that supplements itself with self-generated electrical power. Both also offer increasingly impressive fuel consumption figures, compared to any other hybrids before them.
The much-awaited 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec V has been unveiled in Japan. Contrary to popular rumours, there are no power upgrades, as Nissan instead focused on reducing weight to create a track-biased car. This leads us to believe that the standard engine-gearbox combination is already running at optimum, and any performance modifications done by tuning companies are simply reducing the life of the car.
The Tokyo Auto Salon always features the quirkiest concepts, but Honda has toned down the fun this year for the 2009 auto show, showing only modified versions of their existing cars.
Japan-based tuner Ings has revealed the latest addition to their line-up of body kits for popular compact cars, now including the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
The current Toyota Land Cruiser Prado has been around for the better part of this decade now. Even though it still looks good, it is estimated that a new model should debut for the 2010 model year.
It will be a while before there is light at the end of the tunnel, as the economic crisis gets worse by the day. Here is a quick update on all the car manufacturers that are heavily affected by the current problems, as much as local dealers like to hide these facts.
Update: I’ve been sent a threatening letter by lawyers representing the research company that held the event leading to the leak, just for this post that never showed the real photos. Therefore, I am being forced to remove references to the spy shots. The funny thing is, if they just asked nicely instead of using threats, I would’ve made this 4WD the biggest secret in the country.
I am aware that there are spy shots of the fully-exposed 2010 Nissan Patrol floating around on the net. The local media has been barred from republishing these photos by Nissan Middle East,