Feature Stories

Let’s not beat around the bush. Car sales have crashed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. There’s no avoiding its effects, as stock markets, retail and travel have also been murdered by the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, with no sign of relief any time soon and people are losing their jobs in these and others sectors. If you still feel like buying a car, there are some options, but on the whole, there probably won’t be any new cars to buy soon as several carmakers are switching focus for the time being.

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Car shopping is probably one of the most stressful activities you’ll ever undertake, thanks to the amount of money involved and the utter disdain for customers at most car dealerships. Add the generational shift towards app-based on-demand and subscription services for everything from hailing a taxi to watching TV shows, the urge to actually own a car for mobility is diminishing among certain sections of young affluent consumers. As a logical progression, now there are even car subscription services where you can sign up to use a car for a month using your smartphone, pay a monthly fee with all service and maintenance included without being locked into a multi-year lease,

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The Lincoln Nautilus is basically the facelifted version of the outgoing MKX. As the Ford-owned American luxury brand steers clear of the ill-conceived “MK-whatever” naming convention that was introduced just a decade ago, proper names are back on the tailgates of Lincoln models, all of which are now taking design cues introduced on the flagship Continental sedan and made familiar with the new Navigator.

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We went for a quick drive in the all-new 2020 Ford Explorer before its launch in the Middle East. This one is a RWD hybrid model, but there are more variants on the way.

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The midsize sedan segment is a competitive one dominated by the Japanese. But Chevrolet has had a competent entry for a few years now that hasn’t gained traction, even with competitive pricing. The current Malibu garnered a decent review from us when it was launched in late 2016, but then the well-known Japanese trio all got redesigns as well, raising the bar for what a midsize sedan can offer. The Korean-built Malibu received a quiet facelift for 2019 though, along with a new engine that’s a huge improvement.

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We drove the updated 2020 Nissan Patrol around the UAE and found out what has changed, and whether the positive traits of the old one has been retained.

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Renamed but little changed since it first launched 40 years ago, Lada’s legacy model remains the brand’s defining model as it makes a comeback to Middle East markets. Formerly known as the Niva, the diminutive Lada 4×4 is both precursor to the crossover segment and a highly capable off-roader. With uni-body construction, rugged four-wheel-drive, and coil spring double wishbone and live axle suspension, it was designed as an affordable people’s car for city streets and rugged rural Russian winters alike.

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A complete mental recalibration is called for. This is just the first three-quarter-throttle squirt out of the pitlane and onto the front straight of the Dubai Autodrome, yet it’s already evident the forward thrust being served up here is on the gob-smacking end of the scale. It feels as though I’ve been implanted in a movie that’s playing in fast forward, and the grey matter is still trying to comprehend this madness.

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It’s not often that the launch of a new car is held in the basement. But there we were, in the underground parking lot of the Ford Middle East HQ, getting an exclusive walk-around of the all-new 2020 Explorer. Only two US-spec pre-production cars are in the country at the moment, in Hybrid trim, and we were among the first journos to get a look at them.

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Remember the Ssangyong Actyon? Distinguished by a roofline that tapered sharply at the rear, it was arguably the first SUV-coupe in the world. The only problem? It wasn’t particularly good, which meant it never sold in significant numbers, so the Korean carmaker quietly laid it to rest in 2010 after a five-year production run.

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