Feature Stories

In the past decade, we have seen a lot of improvements in technologies on passenger cars and SUVs. It is no different with heavy trucks with improvements in creature comforts and safety. In the Middle East, it is very easy to spot commercial vehicles with a manual transmission but there are many brands introducing automatic transmissions and demand is rising for them. Mercedes-Benz recently gave us a demonstration on the latest technology in their heavy trucks.

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Ford has brought the iconic Bronco name back from the dead. One of the most anticipated cars of the century after a concept was teased way back in 2004, we finally have a new one hit the streets, and got our grubby hands on one.

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What you are about to read are our first impressions of the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser, based on a quick lunch-break visit to the showroom as well as a very short spin of a private car on city streets. We weren’t invited to the media launch event held in the UAE, which was seemingly attended only by “agreeable” scribes and influencers, but taking a closer look at one of the most hyped new cars to be launched in the Middle East in 2021 (after the latest Nissan Patrol Nismo earlier this year) gives us some insight on why Toyota is trying to control the messaging so tightly.

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There have been several high-profile post-lockdown car launches that set the internet on fire. The Nissan Patrol Nismo, the Chevy Tahoe and the upcoming Ford Bronco featured prominently among them, but those were all SUVs. The only small car to “trend” is the Volkswagen Golf GTI, which shows that cars might be giving way to SUVs, but the legendary O.G. hot hatch is always going to be around.

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The Volkswagen Teramont didn’t make sense on the surface when it debuted a few years ago, considering the Touareg was still around. But it made perfect sense when you delved deeper into the specs sheet — compared to the 2-row Touareg, the Teramont had a third row of seating, and was actually larger and cheaper. While the latest Touareg moved even further upscale, the Teramont is holding the fort in the meat of the mid-size SUV market, going up against Ford Explorers and Nissan Pathfinders. And it has just received a nip-and-tuck for the 2021 model year.

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We were invited to check out Carzaty, the Middle East’s hottest digital-focused car dealership that operates in Oman and the UAE. Carzaty sells pre-owned cars with a warranty and puts a priority on the customer experience. Their “showroom” is called the Car Hub and we went to the one in Dubai. You can find all their cars and book a test-drive at www.carzaty.com

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Many folks will fondly remember the Xterra. It debuted as a sister model to the older body-on-frame Pathfinder, meant to be a playful more-capable alternative to its sibling, and taking on the Jeep Wrangler and the Toyota FJ Cruiser. It came in bright paintjobs and was a smaller vehicle than the Pathfinder, although both were based on versions of the Nissan pickup platform. And then the Xterra was cancelled a few years ago, for various reasons. It’s back now, as a completely different beast with a hyphen in its name.

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The all-new Cadillac CT5 directly competes with cars such as the compact BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. In CT5-V form seen here, the V version has now been repositioned as an entry-level performance model, with a future Blackwing model taking the fight to the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-AMG C 63. However, this car is an entertainer in its own right.

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The 2020 Infiniti QX80 is based on the decade-old Nissan Patrol platform. But the much-needed facelift it received back in 2018 took care of the biggest design criticisms of the older version.

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The current Fiat 500 has been around for a decade now with almost no visible changes. While the car is long in the tooth, the good thing is the sportier Abarth 595 versions are still around. And there is yet another new variant this year in an attempt to keep the model fresh on the unchanging showroom floor. The latest “special edition” is the 695 70th Anniversario (as it is customary for Fiat to rebadge yearly special models as “695”).

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