Our long-time readers might know that our VW coverage bordered on farcical since 2006. However, things change over time, and we were pleasantly surprised to receive an invite to the GCC launch of the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta in Dubai. The new Jetta is the car VW expects to crack the compact segment with in the GCC.
The Maserati Trofeo one-make racing championship was launched this week for the GCC region, at an event in Dubai. The series is backed by the Maserati factory in Modena, Italy and will feature up to 16 mechanically-identical Maserati GranTurismo MC Trofeo race cars battling it out over 12 races across the Middle East.
The “Spirit of Ecstasy” lady, found on the bonnet of every Rolls-Royce, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. To mark “her” centenary anniversary, Rolls-Royce Motors Cars has created a special set of just 100 vehicles — the Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Collection. In addition, every vehicle produced during 2011 will feature a unique Spirit of Ecstasy with an engraved commemorative inscription. This coincided with the opening of the redone Rolls-Royce showroom in Dubai.
Jaguar’s pricey grand tourer, the XK, has received some minor, but refreshing, aesthetic alterations for 2012. The facelifted XKR was unveiled at the 2011 New York Auto Show, alongside a new XKR-S model.
Jaguar, the British luxury carmaker and wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, have introduced their facelifted XF model for 2012 at the 2011 New York International Auto Show. Resembling the C-XF concept design which debuted in 2007, more than ever before, the new XF looks promising enough to attract a fair share of popularity.
Nominated new car models have now been announced for the 2011 Middle East Motor Awards. Vice President of the FIA and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE Mohammed ben Sulayem has offered his full support to the region’s largest motor awards, which are set to take place on November 3rd later this year at the Sharjah Expo Centre. I am a member of the judging committee, although my influence on this list was limited, considering there are 18 judges this year!
You may have heard by now that Audi has launched their Mini-wannabe model, the A1, in the UAE. Armed with a 122 hp 1.4-litre “TFSI” engine, women and girly-men are being lured by various promotional activities for the A1, including product placements around malls, big billboards on the streets, and overly-positive “reviews” in local magazines. If you really want this front-wheel-drive supermini though, you can wait for this one. Caught by one of our readers, Nabeal Malik, it looks to be a higher-spec Audi A1 model.
Boasting a phenomenal increase of sales by 178% in the first quarter of 2011, the strongest in the Middle East for the period, AGMC has announced the arrival of two “distinctive” Phantom models going by a fancy name as long as “Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Collection”.
Al Tayer Motors, the Ferrari and Maserati dealer for the UAE, has re-opened their Dubai showroom after an extensive refurbishment and expansion. It was unveiled during a media event last week.
Porsche announced the launch of its all new Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, a street legal variant of the 911 GT3 track-only race car. According to Porsche, the model, which is limited to just 600 units, shall debut boasting the biggest engine among the entire 911 series – a naturally aspirated 4.0-litre 6-cylinder horizontally-opposed motor rated at 500 hp at 8,250 rpm and 460 Nm torque at 5,750 rpm.