Chrysler held a two-day media event for the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the UAE. And by “all-new”, we really do mean all-new. Now based on a Mercedes-Benz M-Class platform, that’s where the similarities end between the former siblings, as the Jeep is a completely unique vehicle.
Skoda dealers for the UAE is now Ali & Sons Motors, who happen to be the existing dealers of Skoda’s sister brands Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi in Abu Dhabi currently. The official launch of the new Skoda Auto showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai took place this week. The occassion also marked the introduction of the Skoda Superb 3.6, joining the existing Superb 1.8T that was apparently already available quietly via the old dealer. Suprisingly also on sale already is the latest Skoda Octavia.
The 2011 Ford Mustang has been launched in the UAE at a crowded event inside and outside the Dubai Autodrome’s Kartdrome grounds. We’d call the public event a success as about a million Mustang owners and fans showed up for the afternoon launch.
AW Rostamani Trading, dealers for Nissan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, is now also going to be the dealership for Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile (ZNA) in the UAE. ZNA is one of China’s “biggest” automotive manufacturers that was established in 1993 in partnership with Nissan.
We went to the launch of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East launch yesterday at the Dubai Autodrome, on which we’ll report later. But more interestingly, there was a display of six classic cars, all shipped in from the Porsche Museum in Germany.
It is rather amazing how some car manufacturers are actually going backwards in design and creating dullards like the “all-new” VW Passat, the Audi A6 and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. And then there are some manufacturers whose newest models pretty much look as if they belong at an auto show as a concept car. Like the Infiniti M, the Hyundai Sonata, the Kia Optima, and now the 2011 Volvo S60.
The 2011 Kia Optima is hot. It is so hot that it is sold out wherever it has been launched so far. It is sold out in the UAE too, and it isn’t even out yet officially. The car will hit GCC roads by the first week of November, but Kia organised an all-day media test-drive in Dubai.
Ford Middle East has finally launched the “new” 2011 Edge crossover in the UAE, although its first public debut was simply a display at the expensive GITEX tech trade show in Dubai.
Mitsubishi held its GCC launch event for their all-new 2011 ASX sub-compact crossover at the Dubai Autodrome racetrack a couple of weeks ago. To make things interesting, they even had a few 2010 Nissan Qashqai crossovers at hand for comparison. Incidentally, the Qashqai has been facelifted for 2011, though changes are minimal.
The 2011 Infiniti M was launched earlier last week in the UAE, and displayed for the first time at the 2010 Sharjah Auto Show. Just before its launch, we asked for a test-drive whenever possible, and surprisingly got an answer that we can have it that same weekend. And so, here is a look at the GCC-spec Infiniti M56 for the first time ever.