Hyundai’s impressive run of successes is set to continue with the official launch of the Elantra compact sedan. Already revealed in Korea as the Avante, the Elantra sedan is a complete departure from the awful outgoing model, and is arguably the most futuristically-styled compact car on the market now, taking over the mantle from the formerly ground-breaking Honda Civic.
In an interesting twist to Toyota’s latest recall, Honda has announced that it is recalling a total of 470,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to the same failing master cylinder problem that caused Toyota to recall 1.66 million vehicles worldwide a few days ago.
We were directed to this documentary video by a friend who lives in Saudi Arabia. Keen-eyed observers will realise that it was made in the United States, but while it delves on many stereotypes, it is wholly inaccurate on two counts — Saudis don’t dress like that, and Saudis wouldn’t ever want an Audi.
Anyone who visited the 2010 Sharjah Auto Show last week would’ve got a look at the gaudy bodykitted Lexus LX570 at the “Invader” stand. The so-called Invader is a tuning and customisation programme for the Lexus 4×4 by Japanese tuners ASI. Who else besides the Japanese can come up with something this cheesy.
Now under Fiat ownership, Chrysler is on a brisk product improvement drive, and the latest model to benefit is the unloved Sebring midsize sedan. The Sebring is being replaced by a new model dubbed the Chrysler 200. And contrary to popular belief, it is more of an internal and external facelift with some mechanical upgrades, rather than an all-new platform.
The hot new 2011 Hyundai Sonata is third in the midsize car category in terms of sales in the high-volume U.S. market, displacing the Nissan Altima while gunning for the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. But such quick growth comes at a cost, as the Sonata has now been recalled for the second time.
BMW’s U.S. division is recalling almost every V8 and V12 model they’ve sold in North America, including the Rolls-Royce Phantom, stretching as far back as 2002.
One of our readers, Fahad, tipped us off that the 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser will now be available with a 5.7-litre V8 in the Middle East, and has already been revealed in Kuwait as a 60th anniversary model, according to the dealer website there. We are also hearing rumblings that the 5.7-litre model is already in the UAE, and should soon be found in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries too.
Fiat-owned Chrysler has released images of the “new” 2011 Jeep Patriot, the slow-selling crossover that was routinely criticised for its poor interior quality, but has now been improved under new management.
Last year, when we actually had some contact with Ford, we were told that the Ford F-150 Raptor would come to the GCC eventually, but only in four-door form fitted with a larger 6.2-litre V8, instead of the two-door version with the 5.4-litre V8 that debuted in 2009. The four-door version has finally come to fruition, dubbed the 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor SuperCrew.