The news of the day is that Ford has finally completed the sale of its Swedish Volvo division to China’s Geely for US$ 1.8 billion. Almost simultaneously, Volvo has announced a recall for all of the S80 sedans for the 2007-2010 model years.
The 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe and CTS-V Coupe are now available to pre-order at Cadillac showrooms across the Middle East, and will start arriving in the GCC this September.
Toyota’s Dubai-based dealer office has released a statement that the 2002-2007 Lexus LX 470, the 1999-2004 Toyota Avalon and the 2000-2001 Toyota Corolla are being recalled in the UAE. Only a few GCC-spec Corolla models are affected, while the Land Cruiser seems to have escaped the recall here.
Alongside an earlier-announced recall for 39,000 Lexus LX 470 4x4s built between 2003 and 2007, Toyota has also announced the global recall of all Land Cruiser models between 2003 and 2007. UAE media reports put the global number of affected Land Cruisers at around 40,000, for a total of almost 80,000. That number seems to suggest that only the V8 version is affected.
After a little more than a month, the 2010 Chevrolet Malibu long-termer finally left our fleet last week. We would’ve liked to keep it longer as we still had a lot to cover about it, but General Motors Middle East wanted to put the car back in use as a press test-drive vehicle. But before we gave it back, we just did a quick run to see what the engine is capable of in terms of fuel economy.
The hottest news of the day is the governmental suspension of Blackberry services in the UAE by October 11, officially “due to security concerns” but more due to the fact that “The Man” cannot snoop on your dirty emails. The shocking news (to BB users only) pretty much overshadows the fact that the 2011 Infiniti QX56 has been launched in the GCC. That’s the news we hear from our journalist friends who frolicked at the launch party last week, in Lebanon of all places.
A few weeks ago, Ferrari unveiled their newest iteration of the Challenge race-ready model, now based on the 458 Italia. The 2011 Ferrari 458 Challenge had its first test session with a production version at the Vallelunga race circuit in Italy, although it looks more like a test of Photoshop skills instead.
General Motors has announced that selected Chevrolet dealers in the United States have begun taking customer orders for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the first mass-production electric vehicle with extended-range capability. Following the U.S. introduction, the Volt will go on sale in global markets starting with Europe and China in 2011. A few will also be sent to the GCC for hot-weather testing to see if they are viable for sale in the UAE.
The hits just keep on coming for Toyota, as they’ve announced yet another recall, this time covering 39,000 Lexus LX 470 4x4s built between 2003 and 2007.