With the Takata airbag fever starting to subside, the number of recalls has decreased slightly. There hasn’t been a ton of recalls in the past month, but here is the list of the ones that did happen in November 2016.
Maserati, the brand best known for building cars that Ferrari didn’t want, has finally dipped their toes in the hugely-profitable SUV segment. While you may never see a Ferrari SUV, Maserati’s new Levante is as close to that as you may get, assuming you ignore the lack of a V8 option. We got our hands on one during a recent trip to Oman, as they seem oddly hard to come by in Dubai.
Honda has launched a base variant of the 2017 Civic with an all-new 1.6L engine. To be offered in the GCC, Lebanon and Jordan, the 1.6-litre Honda Civic comes in two grades, namely DX and LX, and clearly aims to grab some market share from significantly-cheaper rivals. The 2016 Civic which was launched in April this year in 2.0-litre n/a and 1.5-litre turbo forms, leading to an 86% increase in yearly Civic sales at a time when every other compact sedan has seen crashing sales due to the economic slowdown.
Hyundai has launched the all-new 2018 Azera large sedan on its home turf, Korea, under the Grandeur moniker. With the subsidiary Genesis brand acting as a luxury marque, Hyundai now has more room at the top of their portfolio to move up their flagships even further.
If you like going against the grain and actually prefer the new ill-received BMW 5-Series as well as plug-in hybrid cars, the increasingly mass-market German carmaker has a solution for you. BMW has introduced a plug-in hybrid version of the new 5-series sedan called the 530e. The hybrid 5-series has a lot in common to the 330e hybrid released a few months ago.
Recently, the LoadME Racing Team contacted us to experience the Radical race-car at the Dubai Autodrome. The team are taking part at the ongoing Radical Middle East Cup (RMEC) series which started around October and ends in April next year.
The UAE’s Ministry of Energy has announced the new prices for petrol that will be valid for the month of December.
About two months ago, Kia gave us a glimpse of the Rio supermini hatchback at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. Now a new model from the Kia stable is letting us have a look at the 2018 Kia Rio sedan. The K2 sedan intended for China is not exactly the Rio, but it will be what the 2018 Rio sedan will look like with some minor changes.
The all-new Mercedes-Benz E-Class made its debut in the GCC, with the German manufacturer calling it their most intelligent car yet. While we have yet to get proper wheel-time with it, Mercedes-Benz is keen to point out that their ‘smart car’ has a whole host of new active safety features. We got chaperoned around at an event to experience some of the safety features which are part of the optional Driving Assistance Packing available in the 2017 E-Class.
The reborn Fiat 500, which debuted in 2007 and has been hugely popular in Europe but has remained externally unchanged since then, is getting a new variant called the 500 Riva. And it’s coming to the UAE and other GCC countries.