Lexus is doing something completely out of character in this region by going ahead and launching the first hybrid hatchback in the UAE, at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Motor Show. The CT 200h, originally designed for the European market, will become the cheapest hybrid car to be sold in the UAE, undercutting various manufacturers who have only been bringing in ridiculously-priced high-end models here.
Here’s photos of possibly every new car displayed at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Motor Show. In a show that was missing a large number of major brands, there was an equally good number of new model launches for the UAE, including the Lexus CT 200h, the Lexus LFA, the Toyota Zelas, the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible, the facelifted Chevrolet Captiva, the new GMC Terrain, the GMC Acadia Denali, the Cadillac XTS concept, the new Hyundai Accent, the Subaru Impreza Outback, the Lincoln MKT, the Range Rover Evoque and the Mazda Kazamai concept, among others. Also, beware of the parking charges because they can add up real quick,
Toyota’s UAE dealer launched the 2011 Scion tC at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Motor Show, only, it will be known as the Toyota Zelas in the GCC, and will come standard with an aggressive body kit.
Renault chose to hold the GCC unveiling of the all-new 2011 Renault Safrane at the 2010 Riyadh Motor Show. As we had been speculating for ages, the new model is a simple rebadge of the car that debuted earlier this year in Europe as the Renault Latitude and in Korea as the Nissan-Samsung SM5.
The first photos of the 2011 Chrysler 300C has hit the web, and it looks to be a simplistic facelift of the existing model, although mechanical and interior changes are more substantial.
McLaren Automotive unveiled the MP4-12C in Bahrain and the UAE this month. After the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR, this is only the first product to come out the company that has associations with Formula 1.
After revealing the so-called “concept” version of the near-production 2012 6-Series coupe, BMW has gone ahead and released full details on the actual 2012 650i Convertible, which is set to go on sale in the first half of 2011.
No one cares about Opel in the UAE, or even knows whether their cars are still on sale or not. It would seem Opel really is alive and well, and had been offering the Opel Antara small crossover for the past couple of years in their line-up. The model has received a facelift for 2011.
Say what you want about the Americans, but they are a serious bunch when it comes to safety. The U.S. government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — NHTSA — is the one that mandates airbags and tyre-pressure monitors in all new cars, subdued automakers into making their roof strength higher while inadvertently making outward visibility worse due to thicker pillars, and is set to force rear-view cameras on all new cars by 2014 thereby making car prices higher. And if that weren’t enough, there are not one, but two agencies in the U.S. that conduct crash tests, one being the NHTSA and other being the private Insurance Institute for Highway Safety —
Most of you people aren’t even interested in Volvo. Neither were we. The only Volvo we drove previously was the XC60, which was technically advanced but dynamically underwhelming. Then we drove the all-new S60 2.0T recently. Stuck behind a slow Gulf News journalist on a track convoy, we didn’t get much out of that event. Now we got the S60 T6 for five days. And the car is phenomenal, hot damnit.