European Car News

Our two-year-old Renault Safrane just had its first proper problem. The driver-side power window, which had been acting hesitant for more than a year, finally decided to crap out. The window glass went down and never came back up. Naturally, my father was pissed, as he had to go to work on a Friday, driving at 120 kph with a face-full of wind, and then having to leave the car overnight, open to the elements. He kept comparing it to his “reliable” 1997 Toyota Corolla, which didn’t even have power steering, let alone power windows.

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After much rumour and speculation of the name “Cajun” for an allegedly upcoming Porsche SUV, and several spy shots of an Audi Q5 which was allegedly a Porsche in disguise, all floating around the internet for over a year now, Porsche has decided to break the suspense. As the rumors suggested for most part and unlike the rumored “name”, Porsche is all set to introduce a new sports utility vehicle called the Porsche Macan.

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Our Volkswagen Passat CC had taken a back seat for the last month as we fiddled around with, what else, other Volkswagens. We drove the VW Phaeton and the VW Passat Ecofuel recently, and we have become quite familiar with Volkswagen DNA by now. Of course, we’ve come to realise that the Passat CC is indeed tuned to be sportier than other sedans in their fleet, as our car rides a wee bit firmer than either of those cars, while taking corners with much more confidence. But does it make a good highway cruiser?

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Abu Dhabi Motors, the sole dealer for BMW, Rolls-Royce and Mini in the UAE capital, just opened the world’s largest BMW showroom last week. A VIP party was on February 14 to celebrate the opening of the massive new showroom facility, although the Rolls-Royce section was already opened last year.

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It would seem Dubai Police is on a upgrade spree. After dropping some dime on at least a hundred SUVs, namely the Toyota Prado, Nissan Xterra and Kia Mohave, one of our readers, Sree, spotted this 2012 BMW 5-Series on a tow truck in full police livery.

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The Volkswagen Scirocco R, the most potent version of VW’s 3-door “coupé” is now on sale in the GCC.

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The BMW 7-Series is the best-selling Bimmer in the Middle East, and apparently the best-selling full-size luxury sedan in this region too. But about a decade ago, BMW management had mentioned that there will never be an ‘M’ version of the 7-Series, because it did not go well with the rest of the ‘M’ line-up. Of course, since then there has been SUVs with the ‘M’ badge even while most M cars are now automatic, but the 7-Series had to make-do with just an ‘M Edition’ upgrade package. The latest version of the BMW 7-Series M Edition has just been launched for sale in the GCC.

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This is one car that caused a lot of controversy back when it was launched in 2002. Most had issues with the fact that the Phaeton was “too expensive for a Volkswagen.” Of course, many failed to realise that the Phaeton was pretty much a cheaper Audi A8, possibly better even, considering it used the dedicated all-wheel-drive Bentley Continental platform.

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BMW M, the German carmaker’s legendary performance subsidiary, has rolled out four new BMW M models, all set to debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show soon. However, the interesting news is that the new models are all diesel-powered vehicles, which happens to be the first ones ever to get the “M” treatment.

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