Well, looks like we’ve landed an exclusive. This here is the first 2012 Honda Civic to be reviewed in the UAE. After months of spy photos by readers spotting these mysterious cars all over Dubai, the Japanese firm has finally gone official with their new compact contender.
Al Futtaim Automotive, the UAE dealer for Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and various other brands, has opened new facilities around the country as well as announced their new offers for Ramadan as well as lease programmes.
We were wondering why Honda Middle East didn’t do this sooner. Prices of Japanese cars are so high nowadays due to the retarded world of currency fluctuations that the American-built Honda Accord Coupe was priced higher than the Japanese-built Honda Accord sedan in 2011. Of course, now the sedan is also being imported from the United States, although Honda isn’t making a big deal out of it.
When we heard that Porsche Middle East had bumped up their test-drive period to a little more than a day now, we were more than a little pleased. Previously, Porsche used to hand over test vehicles for just six hours at a time so as to avoid naive journalists, drunk or otherwise, from trashing their cars. So we’d never bothered to drive their cars before, outside of their spectacular roadshows at local race-tracks. But things change, and we went ahead and asked for a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS.
We’ve already known for months now that the first shipment of 2012 Honda Civic sedans were on sale in the UAE quietly. According to Honda, the Japanese carmaker “faced immense challenges in its production capabilities due to the earthquake & tsunami disasters in March 2011.” Honda was in short supply of the new models, so they did not actively advertise the fact that limited numbers were already available, which was likely sold out easily enough. But Honda has now released full details about their new model.