Mazda’s UAE dealer, Galadari Automobiles, has just inaugurated a brand new showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. It is their fanciest showroom to date, and also includes a large service centre. They also used the opportunity to launch the 2013 Mazda 6 sedan in the UAE.
After its dramatic birth back in the late 1990s as a 5-door Smart Car-alternative that went up on two wheels at the sight of a moose, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class went on to become rather popular in Europe, even though it was nothing more than a city runabout that shared the same badge as an S-Class. Of course, it never caught on in the UAE, where people prefer their luxury cars to look like, well, cars. But more than a decade later, the A-Class changes its ethos completely and comes back as a proper hatchback, apparently in search of buyers who don’t have white hair.
In a move that was a long time coming, the FX35 and its 3.5-litre V6 have finally been dropped from the line-up, replaced by the new FX37 model.
Infiniti recently invited us to try out the 2013 QX56 at a media event. We were more than familiar with the QX56’s capabilities on the road, thanks to the long-termer we had in 2011. We didn’t explore its off-roading credentials at the time beyond mountain-driving, but since it is a reskinned Nissan Patrol after all, Infiniti wanted us to do more with it this time around.
Nissan Middle East debuted the 2013 Nissan GT-R “For Track Pack” in Dubai last week at the Dubai Autodrome. The new model isn’t a big change, aside from a retuned suspension and further weight loss, and we didn’t get to drive it either. But Nissan had two 2012 GT-R test cars lined up on the track, with pro instructors in the passenger seat. With Nissan GT-R creator Kazutoshi Mizuno and his team hanging around. And we were told to bring in a couple of our Facebook fans as well for a drive!
The fifth edition of the Emirates Classic Car Festival kicked off on the 7th of March with the largest showcase of classic cars and motorbikes to date. Featuring a line-up of more than 200 classic cars and motorbikes, the event is running on the Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard in Downtown Dubai, somewhere near Dubai Mall, until March 9, 2013.
Nissan Middle East introduced the 2013 Nissan GT-R Track Pack model for the GCC recently, at an event in the UAE.
Stories are popping up all over about this Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6×6 model, a limited-production monstrosity that’s designed to be sold only to one kind of clientele. Of course, we were not invited to the launch in Dubai because Mercedes-Benz didn’t deem us worthy enough to show our brown faces at the event.
Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority plans to crack down harder on illegal transport services, which has seen an increase in the past few years, with violators facing confiscation of vehicles and repeat offenders likely to face jail time, followed by deportation.
Opel has officially announced their return to the UAE this week via dealer Liberty Automobiles in Dubai, after quietly displaying their cars at the 2012 Sharjah Auto Show late last year and being on sale for several months already. In an interesting move, almost their entire range is available here, with a couple of notable exceptions.