We have been following the rise of Chinese cars in the Middle East with a lot of interest now. The barrage of new brands and models has been ongoing for the past decade now, but all the offerings have been lacklustre in one way or the other. They are getting better with every iteration though. So when we got the new Haval H2 for a test-drive, we were hoping China’s carmakers have finally caught up to the competition.
With economies slowly freeing themselves from the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, the automotive industry is slowly creeping back up to their old levels. But surprisingly, only a single major recall was reported in the past month that was relevant to the Middle Eastern market. This comes as a stark contrast to the last month, which registered a plethora of recall campaigns. The only relevant recall in the past month is from — no prizes for guessing — FCA.
Lucid Motors, a new maker of luxury EVs set to compete with Tesla, has announced a range of 832 km on a single charge for its forthcoming Lucid Air all-electric sedan, far higher than its rival, the Tesla Model S.
McLaren F1 is a legendary name in the supercar world. The F1 re-wrote the supercar formula when it was launched back in the ’90s. Today’s struggling McLaren Automotive has nothing to do with the original any more, as their cars became automatic soft-sprung playthings for show-offs and instagrammers. So when the creator of the legend, Mr. Gordon Murray, decided to make a car poised to be the F1’s spiritual successor, every well-heeled car enthusiast stood up and took notice. Dubbed the Gordon Murray T.50, the spiritual successor of the McLaren F1 has now been revealed.
Cafu, the region’s first on-demand petrol delivery service, has announced that they will now offer their “SuperShine” car wash service in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
What do you do when you run out of names for your car-based crossovers? Toyota seems to have found an answer by naming its crossovers after all its hatchbacks and sedans. After the Yaris Cross debuted a month ago, they have laid their hands on another name, revealing the all-new 2021 Toyota Corolla Cross in Thailand.
The Lexus LS, Toyota’s full-size luxury sedan, is still around, lest you forgot about it with the big-nostrilled BMW 7-Series taking up the limelight and the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class around the corner. Lexus has gone ahead and given the 2021 Lexus LS a bit more tech to stay relevant. And yes, it finally gets a touchscreen.
McLaren and Gulf Oil International Ltd (yes, that Gulf with the orange-and-blue race-car liveries) have announced a multi-year strategic partnership which will see the iconic oil brand partner with the race team McLaren Racing and struggling supercar-maker McLaren Automotive.
ADNOC Distribution, the Abu Dhabi-based fuel and convenience retailer with outlets all across the UAE, has announced that customers can now earn loyalty points on every purchase of fuel and non-fuel products as part of their rewards programme, ADNOC Rewards.
In the Philippines, Toyota has revealed the Yaris with a new face. Known as the Vios there, the design update to the front looks quite familiar to the previous generation Toyota Camry which was sold here.