Nissan Patrol wins in UAE desert event

• Lebanese ace Emil Kneisser dominated the Emirates Desert Championship when he piloted his Nissan Patrol to a remarkable victory recently. Kneisser spearheaded a great day for Patrols when he won the T2 category as the UAE’s Mansour Al-Helei powered home in second place, also in a Patrol, to give Nissan a one-two triumph in the punishing event. “This victory is particularly special because I had damage to my vehicle in the opening round of the Desert Championship but this time everything went to plan,” says Kneisser. “And for Mansour to nail second place in the T2 category was the icing on the cake. He’s a top driver and it shows what outstanding vehicles Patrols are in these conditions.”

• Chevrolet is using cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensor technology to help drivers avoid rear-end collisions and blind spot-caused sideswipes, as well as parking lot fender benders. “The best kind of safety protection we can offer are customer-focused features that help drivers avoid the crash altogether, and which are kept turned on for every trip”, said Raymond J. Kiefer, General Motors Active Safety Technical Fellow. Kiefer and his team developed the patented “Safety Alert Seat” feature to help hearing-impaired drivers and persuade drivers to leave features turned on. Chevrolet’s crash avoidance technologies are designed to help drivers in many everyday situations, though none substitutes for careful, distraction-free driving.

• BMW Group Middle East has continued its remarkable growth over the first three quarters of 2014. Registering a sales increase of 21 percent and delivering 22,786 BMW and MINI cars to customers across 12 Middle East markets — the company is on track for another record breaking year. The UAE remained the biggest selling market accounting for 54 percent of the total sales in the GCC and Levant region. Abu Dhabi remains the largest single market with 8,042 cars sold followed by Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates with 4,283 cars. Across all the Emirates, BMW and MINI sales experienced growth of 41 percent. Regional Manager Johannes Seibert said that Saudi Arabia followed suit with a sales increase of 10 percent selling 3,479 vehicles over the same period. Kuwait was also a strong contributor to the company’s overall results with 2,567 vehicles sold during the first nine months of the year. Globally, the Middle East’s success was echoed with BMW selling more vehicles in the first three quarters of 2014 than ever before in the company’s history. A total of 1,528,241 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were sold worldwide, an increase of 6.4 percent from the previous record year of 2013 (1,436,166).
• Porsche Saudi Arabia revealed the new generation of the Porsche Cayenne at a ceremony attended by motor enthusiasts and members of the business community. The event was held in Riyadh, at the Khozama Ballroom. During the ceremony, Omar Al-Madhi, CEO of Volkswagen Group Saudi Arabia, which inlcudes Porsche, said that Saudi Arabia has reached a new record by importing vehicles with a value approaching SR77 billion, making it the largest vehicle market in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia imports an average of 679,000 vehicles per year, with an annual growth rate of 9.5 percent. He added: “Since the Cayenne was launched in 2002, its success has exceeded all expectations, with more than 579,000 units sold. After positioning itself as the pioneer premium SUV, the new generation Porsche Cayenne is back with higher performance, more comfort, and increased efficiency.”