Toyota’s workhorse pickup is now available in a “consumer” trim, as the the 2021 Toyota Hilux Adventure is now available in dealerships across the GCC. The Adventure version is fittingly on display at the Dubai Festival City mall right now, signifying that for the first time in the UAE, a variant of the Hilux can be bought by any expat individual rather than just by companies and nationals.
The Ford F-150 Raptor carved a new niche for itself when it came out first, slotting itself in as a performance pickup. Since then, the Raptor has been enjoying a sort of monopoly with no mainstream manufacturer daring to lighten its halo. But after years of teasing and dawdling around, FCA has finally debuted their version of a fast offroading truck, the 702 hp Hellcat V8-powered 2021 Ram 1500 TRX.
Indian utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra was never a big player in the Middle Eastern market, although a few models are starting to trickle down to showrooms here. Their far more comprehensive U.S. operation recently they took a legal jab from FCA for “copying” the design of the Wrangler for their Roxor off-roader, even though the latter wasn’t meant for road use nor was it a Wrangler rival. While the U.S. factory had to shut down, back at home in the lucrative Indian market, Mahindra hit back with an uppercut. Here is the 2020 Mahindra Thar.
We have been following the rise of Chinese cars in the Middle East with a lot of interest now. The barrage of new brands and models has been ongoing for the past decade now, but all the offerings have been lacklustre in one way or the other. They are getting better with every iteration though. So when we got the new Haval H2 for a test-drive, we were hoping China’s carmakers have finally caught up to the competition.
Cafu, the region’s first on-demand petrol delivery service, has announced that they will now offer their “SuperShine” car wash service in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
The Lexus LS, Toyota’s full-size luxury sedan, is still around, lest you forgot about it with the big-nostrilled BMW 7-Series taking up the limelight and the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class around the corner. Lexus has gone ahead and given the 2021 Lexus LS a bit more tech to stay relevant. And yes, it finally gets a touchscreen.
ADNOC Distribution, the Abu Dhabi-based fuel and convenience retailer with outlets all across the UAE, has announced that customers can now earn loyalty points on every purchase of fuel and non-fuel products as part of their rewards programme, ADNOC Rewards.
In the Philippines, Toyota has revealed the Yaris with a new face. Known as the Vios there, the design update to the front looks quite familiar to the previous generation Toyota Camry which was sold here.
Dubai-based fuel-delivery start-up Cafu has removed its delivery charges and will now offer their services for free.
Hard to believe that it’s been 8 years since the Volkswagen Passat’s last full redesign in 2012. That was the year when the European Passat and the American Passat diverged into two distinct cars, as the latter became a larger car with class-leading space for a midsize sedan, but also less sophisticated in terms of execution and features. The GCC market gets the American one. And it’s now on its second facelift, the first one being back in 2016.