The McLaren MP4-12C, the new supercar with the forgettable name and the derivative styling, might still have some hope in the exotic performance arena. In a field dominated by Ferrari, Porsche and even Nissan, the McLaren may at least match them all with respectable performance numbers.
Toyota and Honda are proceeding with recall campaigns in some GCC countries. Toyota is offering a free fix for affected Avalon and Sequoia owners, while Honda will do complimentary work on a handful of Odyssey minivans.
Ford has quite a few reasons to smile lately, with the company posting an outstanding full year net income of $2.7 billion. Ford, the only one of the Big Three U.S. automakers that did not opt for a government bailout last year, posted an improvement of US$17.5 billion from 2008, or 86 cents per share, driven in part by favorable net pricing, structural cost reductions, net gains on debt reduction actions and strong Ford Credit results.
One of our readers reports that the 2010 Lexus GX460 is now on sale at showrooms in Dubai, and likely in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere too. In fact, the model is so fresh that the floor salespeople are confused about what it is and giving hilarious answers to customer queries, such as how it is bigger than the 2010 Toyota Prado.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has confirmed a strong performance in the Middle East region in 2009. Worldwide every fifth Rolls-Royce is sold in the Middle East with its 8 dealerships in 6 countries.
BMW Group Middle East has ended 2009 with a moderate 9% decrease in sales compared to 2008. Despite the premium automotive sector being down 25%, the BMW brand managed to gain a 4% increase in market share against its core competitors.
The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) has confirmed that the route for next month’s Saudi Arabia Ha’il Baja will feature minor changes and improvements, but is based upon the successful format that was so well received by competitors in 2009.
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal will head for Abu Dhabi next month carrying a big advantage in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East after scoring his second race victory in 24 hours and his third in four rounds today.
The Zain Reem international race circuit in Riyadh will play host to rounds of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and Chevrolet Supercars Middle East Championship on Wednesday, January 6th and Thursday, January 7th, 2010.
Mr. Mohamad Ali Al Hajj, from Saudi Arabia, recently received his 2010 Maxima, Nissan’s new four door sports car. He won the car in a competition organised by Nissan on the top-rated GCC Arabic language soccer show ‘Sada Al Malaeb’ of MBC1 in October.