UAE

Hyundai seems to have quietly launched the all-new 2012 Elantra in Oman, though their website has not yet been updated. The vehicle in these pictures was spotted when parked in front of a hotel located in a residential area of Sharjah known for its thriving used car market. The vehicle is registered in Oman and seemed to be some mid-option model with fog lamps. Oman has traditionally received new Hyundai and Kia models several months before the UAE, due to their massive popularity there.

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Al Rostamani Trading Company, the sole distributor of Suzuki in the UAE has quietly launched their sporty midsize sedan, the new Kizashi, as a 2012 model in its showrooms. The much-hyped Suzuki Kizashi had been launched in Oman almost a year back and 6 months ago in Saudi Arabia.

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AGMC, the much-loved dealer for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce in Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, celebrated the launch of its newly-expanded multimillion dirham flagship showroom on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road with a gala evening attended by a host of high-profile guests.

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Al Habtoor Motors, the official dealer of Bentley in the UAE, has launched the Bentley Continental GT as a 2012 model at an event in Dubai. Changes are limited to new front and rear fascias, as well as a new engine.

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Choices for sporting two-door coupes are limited in the GCC market if you’re on a budget. There’s the Hyundai Genesis Coupe that is saddled with badge-perception issues and a dealer reluctant to import manual ones. There’s the Ford Mustang, which is built like a Ford Mustang. There’s the Chevy Camaro, whose interior is about as pleasing as an airplane toilet. There’s the Honda Accord Coupe and the Nissan Altima Coupe, neither as sporting as they’re expected to be. There’s the VW Scirocco, a fake “coupe” that really is a photoshopped Golf. And now, there is the Peugeot RCZ. And it takes budget coupes to a whole other level.

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After Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler, the impact was new design and revamping of existing models. New for 2012, the Chrysler 300 came out with a new model, although some would call it an upgrade rather than an entire new machine. Claiming it to be the “most powerful, best-handling sedan ever”, Chrysler displayed the highly-anticipated 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 at the 2011 New York Auto Show.

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The covers have been lifted off the fourth-generation Subaru Impreza at the 2011 New York International Auto Show. The new Impreza from the not-so-popular brand is now bigger and better, offering its customers more space, better interior quality and features, and “allegedly” better performance.

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It was a double surprise as Nissan revealed two different versions of the next-generation Tiida at two different motor-shows in a span of 2 days. As we previously reported about the Chinese Sunny being the new Tiida sedan, the new Sunny debuted as the Versa, currently known as Tiida in the GCC, at the 2011 New York Auto Show, without a hatchback equivalent. Yet, at almost the same time, Nissan revealed a new Tiida hatchback at the 2011 Shanghai Motor Show that is a completely different car. Make sense?

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Remember that quirky youth car from Kia, strangely called “Soul”? Although, not as extremely popular as the Sportage or even the Cerato, Kia has decided to spice up the competition by giving it a mid-cycle update. At the 2011 New York Auto Show, the 2012 Kia Soul was revealed with some welcome improvements, including new styling and mechanicals.

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Yet another crossover SUV. The market is flooded with crossover SUVs. Here is the latest one from General Motors, the all-new 2011 GMC Terrain. It joins the Traverse, Acadia, Captiva and Cadillac SRX in the General’s civil war against the Ford Flex, Escape, Edge, Explorer and MKX, not to mention other brands. Cayenne, M-Class, CR-V, RAV4, Pilot, RX350, X-Trail, Veracruz, Tucson, Sportage…the list is endless. So what makes the Terrain any different in a sea of wannabe 4x4s?

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