Toyota Corolla wins regional award

• The 2014 Corolla, which is the 11th generation of the famous model from Toyota, was officially crowned as the Middle East Car of the Year in the midsize category. A Jury panel of impartial motoring journalists selected the Corolla as the choice for this accolade. Takayuki Yoshitsugu, Toyota’s chief representative in the Middle East & North Africa said “We are delighted to receive this prestigious award for the Corolla as it truly recognizes the immense appeal of the Corolla from a distinguished jury drawn across the region. With the 2014 Corolla, customers get to enjoy a car with a reliable reputation for providing low operating costs and trouble free motoring stemming from quality engineering, along with outstanding comfort levels.

• Abdullah Hashim Co. Ltd. sole distributor for Honda products in Saudi Arabia announced the introduction of New 2015 Honda CR-V. Available across all Honda showrooms in Saudi Arabia, the 2015 CR-V is a fresh upgrade with customer friendly features. The 4th generation 2015 CR-V boasts a wider stance with enhanced exterior styling, offers a 4 grade line up including a 2WD option powered with a new direct-injection DOHC 4 cylinder i-VTEC engine with CVT transmission, plush interiors and a whole host of new and standard features depicting it as more efficient, functional and confident SUV.

• The new race car inspired GT3-R made its first appearance in the UAE this week, during an exclusive track event at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Just 300 examples of the rarest and most dynamic member of the Bentley Continental family of Grand Tourers have been hand built in Crewe, UK and finished by Bentley Motorsport, guaranteeing customers a high level of exclusivity. Under the bonnet, Bentley engineers developed a retuned version of the company’s race-proven, high performance 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 for the new two-seater GT. GT3-R is the fastest-accelerating road going Bentley ever and is capable of reaching 60 mph from a standstill in just 3.6 seconds.

• With the sale of 2,939,000 units in 2014, Peugeot-Citroen recently reported a 4.3 percent worldwide sales increase in comparison to 2013. A soar in China deliveries — 734,000 units — contributed to an overall increase of 31.9 percent of sales in the region, making it the group’s largest market. And as another market on the rise, Europe experienced a recovering demand, reporting a strong growth of 1,761,000 vehicles sold and an overall increase of 8.1 percent. In the Middle East & Africa, priority was given to improving profitability in an otherwise unfavorable economic environment. The Group maintained strong positions in numerous countries, leading the market in Tunisia and ranking second in Morocco. Peugeot was the second best-selling brand in Algeria and also achieved strong growth in Egypt, with unit sales up 77 percent.