The most anticipated cars in this region are always the cars that are near the top of the sales charts, and the Nissan Altima happens to be one of those. As the second-best-selling midsize sedan in the Gulf, the 2013 Nissan Altima is going to be all over the streets of Dubai by the end of this year, and with good reason. The new car has improved in all the right ways.
When we got the call to come drive the “new” Rolls-Royce Phantom models in Dubai, I had to think hard to remember why they were calling them new models. Then it hit me that Rolls-Royce did launch “new” models of their Phantoms, if only with minor changes. The Phantom Series II may just be a facelift, but the new tech added brings the flagship up to modern standards.
It isn’t everyday that media people get to drive a supercar. Well, in our case, we never get to drive a supercar. The closest we’d come before was the Nissan GT-R, but that’s stretching it. But then we finally managed to talk ourselves into the driver’s seat of one. We skipped secretive Ferrari, Lamborghini et al and went straight to the McLaren MP4-12C, the British carmaker’s first proper model since they redefined the meaning of “supercar” more than a decade ago with the McLaren F1.
For a little recap, the Audi TT in its current guise has been around in the GCC since 2007. The first generation was produced from 1999 to 2006, which impressed with its controversial shape, which while certainly different, was not to everyone’s taste. Still, several thousands were sold all over the world for the way it looked, if not for its notorious handling.
The latest 2012 Porsche 911 is the first all-new design for this long-running sports car since 1998, when it first went water-cooled. Every model before that was simply an update on the original design that debuted in 1963! With cars like the Nissan GT-R proving that the Germans can be beaten at their own game, engineering stagnation is something Porsche cannot take for granted any more, and with the new 911, they have moved their star model further upscale. The only job left now, as per tradition, is to churn out a million variants, the first of which is the 911 Cabriolet.
Michael Bay pitched his idea about transformers to the legendary producer/director Stephen Spielberg by starting with the line “It’s about a boy”. Why should this article be any different? I was told that “she” was the last model for the year 2008 left for sale in the entire UAE when I walked into the showroom late September that year. I was told that “she” was customised for the director of Dodge in Abu Dhabi. I was also told, if not “her”, then I would have to wait for another 6 months. The “boy” in me couldn’t wait, wouldn’t wait.
The Infiniti JX35 is one car that nobody was actually anticipating. Unlike the next Toyota Prado or the latest Lexus LX, this all-new Infiniti is going with an all-new nameplate and will have an uphill task establishing the “JX” moniker. Just launched in the GCC, it might be yet another crossover in a line-up that already has the FX and the EX, but this is an important model. The mechanicals for the JX will be the basis for the next-generation Nissan Pathfinder. Interested yet?
The all-new Passat is a big car for Volkswagen. And by ‘big’, we mean both importance as well as size. The larger 2012 Passat is now shipped in from their new United States factory, and we were shipped to Jordan for a test-drive as well as a mini-vacation at a Dead Sea resort.
For some reason, the Chrysler Sebring was considered a disaster in terms of design and sales. Held up by fleet sales in its U.S. home market, generally a sign that a car sucks, as well as being cancelled for sale here before its time, we actually quite liked the design that debuted in 2007. It might have been too weird for some, but we celebrate uniqueness and creativity, even if the car lacked in packaging compared to its mainstream rivals. However, the Sebring is back with a new face and a new badge, with Chrysler having enough confidence to bring it back again.
Ever wondered how it felt like to be in a police car, but in the front seat and not the rear. Well, Ford gave us the opportunity to do so at the regional launch of the all-new 2013 Police Interceptor vehicles, held at the Yas Marina F1 Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
