News round-up: Peugeot 301, Jaguar F-Type, Chevrolet Impala, Jeep Grand Cherokee & Range Rover Sport 2014 UAE/GCC launch

News round-up: Peugeot 301, Jaguar F-Type, Chevrolet Impala, Jeep Grand Cherokee & Range Rover Sport 2014 UAE/GCC launch

Jaguar F-Type and Range Rover
A couple of new cars were launched in the last few weeks and a couple of cars will be launched in the coming few weeks, almost all fresh nameplates for the GCC, and all revealed at events in the UAE.

2013 Peugeot 301

The 2013 Peugeot 301, an all-new model sedan model designed for “emerging” markets, was finally launched here, at an event in Dubai, after other regional journalists drove the car late last year in Turkey. Powered by a 115 hp 1.6-litre engine, it is too big to be classified as a sub-compact, and too small to go against popular compact sedans. It does come at a sub-compact price (and engine), but offers compact levels of space. We skipped the event because there was no drive-time involved, but we hear it is pretty good.

Jaguar F-type prototype

The 2014 Jaguar F-Type was publicly launched at an event in Dubai by the Dubai dealer last week, after carefully-picked regional “journalists” drove the car in Spain earlier. The sports car, currently available only in convertible form with three engine choices, has been much-hyped among media circles, although it hasn’t caught the fancy of the general public as a new Porsche does. We were invited by the dealer, but skipped the event because there was no drive-time involved, and we aren’t on good terms with Jaguar’s PR people.

2014 Chevrolet Impala

The 2014 Chevrolet Impala full-size sedan is about to be launched in the GCC this week, possibly at a media event in Dubai. It is a front-wheel-drive V6-powered replacement for the rear-driven Chevrolet Caprice, and no V8 will be offered. Think of it as a stretched Malibu with proper rear legroom. We aren’t invited to the event because we apparently aren’t on good terms with GM.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee is going to be launched at a media drive event in the UAE in a couple of weeks. The new model features a facelift, a new top-spec Summit model, a larger 8.4-inch multimedia touchscreen system, and carryover engines, among other minor changes. We definitely are invited to this one.

2014 Range Rover Sport 3

The 2014 Range Rover Sport will be locally debuting at an invite-only public event on the 4th of June in the UAE, hosted by the Dubai dealer. It will be offered here in supercharged V6 and V8 forms. Ironically, we received the dealer invite because we are Range Rover customers, even while we don’t get any invites to media drive events, as has been Land Rover’s policy with us for the past decade.

For more information, be sure to visit the Ultimate Car Buyer Guide as it gets updated in the near future with these new models.

Leave a Reply to Hamad Cancel reply

*

Comments

  1. great round-up, Mash. thanks

    still wondering when we finally hear about the new tahoe launch. plant is scaling up, design drafts are out, but still now official launch statements

    also waiting for the patro facelift and the prado “limited” facelift to be launched for the 2014 model year.

    let’s see. it stays exciting! 🙂

    cheers,
    M

  2. I heard that 2014 Grand Cherockee will have the updated 8 speed automatic.

  3. Not a smart move by Range Rover squeezing its new model from both over and under, especially the back part.
    And hats off Chevy, for the clean and refreshing Impala. A true competitor to Taraus.
    And next time you guys get an invitation you don’t want to accept,
    give it to me!

  4. You forgot the new facelift Mercedes Benz E-Class on the 25th of May.

    • Author

      Some event on that date? We generally get skipped for half of all Mercedes events too, although I hear the car is already on sale.

  5. So how did you offend Jaguar Land Rover? And why have they not forgiven you after 10 years – what did you do???

    • Author

      That’s the thing. We *never* offended them. We always gave them positive reviews the few times they threw a high-mileage car at us a year after everybody else drove it. Never got any invites to launch-drive events in Dubai either, even while other little websites got free trips. Since then we’ve grown to become the most popular automotive outlet in the region, and they still sideline us the same way, even after I bought a Range Rover. Now I just keep mentioning how they treat us in my Range Rover stories, and that has apparently offended them. Odd, eh?

  6. Dropped into a Land Rover dealer today to see if they have prices for the new sport model. The 3.0 V6 is between 379,000 and 399,000!! I expected the new model to go up in price a bit, but not that much. Guess its back to window shopping….

  7. Chill guys the new range rover obviously needed a shape update! That box has been there for more than a decade.. so obviously land rover/range rover needed to upgrade it.. it actually looks pretty good. .. fusion between an evoque and range rover sport

Browse archives

Share This