For a change, we took a van around town about a month ago. It was the all-new Honda Odyssey minivan, and we were expecting bigly things from it, especially after hearing about all its fancy features at the launch event.
The car manufacturing scene in Australia is slowly nearing a curtain fall as Toyota and Holden, two of Australia’s leading car companies closed down their manufacturing plants in just a span of three weeks. But what fuelled it?
Al-Futtaim may be best known in the UAE as a Toyota dealer, so this news was a bit of a surprise — Groupe Renault and Al-Futtaim announced that they have signed definitive agreements for the exclusive assembly and distribution of Renault vehicles in Pakistan.
The UAE dealer for Toyota, Al-Futtaim Motors, will now offer the 2018 Camry Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) for sale to the general public. Previous hybrid versions were only sold to taxi fleets in Dubai. Displayed at the 2017 Dubai Motor Show, the 2018 hybrid was the only variant of the all-new redesigned Camry to be revealed in the UAE so far.
Among all the “sustainable mobility” cars exclusively displayed at the Toyota stand in the 2017 Dubai Motor Show, the UAE dealer snuck in the redone 2018 Toyota Yaris hatchback alongside hybrids and fuel-cell cars.
Highlighting the importance of the UAE’s appetite for big luxury cars, Infiniti chose the 2017 Dubai Motor Show to debut its facelifted 2018 QX80.
The Dubai International Motor Show is in full swing for 2017, being the venue for various regional launches as usual, but also joining the big leagues by hosting the global debut of at least three all-new 2018 models, namely the Infiniti QX80, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Alfa Romeo Stelvio QV. There was also the “5000 hp” Devel Sixteen returning in a closer-to-production form as well as local specials such as the GMC Sierra Desert Fox and the MSO-fettled McLaren 720S. Regional debuts were numerous, including the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Nissan Leaf, Genesis G70, GMC Terrain, Chevrolet Tahoe RST,
The Indian-built Mahindra XUV500 quietly went on sale at Galadari Automobiles in the UAE this month. Billed as a 2018 model, it is actually a 2017, but offered with a petrol engine for the first time.
On invitation from Jeep, we had the opportunity to check out what is quite possibly the largest annual aftermarket-equipment trade show in the world, where even a few major manufacturers such as Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai and Chevrolet make an appearance with modified cars, aside from hundreds of privately-owned tuner shops and suppliers.
Adding to the crowded crossover market, Mazda revealed their 4th crossover offering, the Mazda CX-8 for the global markets, but it comes only with a diesel motor under its hood. The seven-seater CX-8 aims to be an oil burner alternative to the petrol-only CX-9 model.