Genesis Middle East & Africa introduces an enhanced version of the G70 sedan and the G70 Shooting Brake featuring luxury and performance-centric interior and exterior upgrades. Production commenced in the Middle East in August, with the pair set to arrive in showrooms by early October 2023. The new exterior bits include a new Genesis emblem decorated with a Guilloché pattern, newly designed wheels and new exterior colours such as Vatna Gray and Kawah Blue. The interior welcomes enhancements comprising touch-type climate control display, a leather steering wheel with a new emblem, multi-function switches, door and console garnish patterns and tweaked air vents. Customers can now select between three sets of dual-tone colours for the interior upholstery. The G70 will be available in two lineups: a 2.0 turbo and a 3.3 turbo, and the G70 Shooting Brake as a 2.0 turbo. Brembo brakes now come standard, as do ventilated front seats for the 3.3T model, along with an upgraded USB charging port to Type C for market compatibility.

The MSO in-house division under Mclaren caters specifically to the bespoke personalisation requirements of customers. Recently, Mclaren’s MSO division announced the launch of the new Spectrum Theme – a stunning multi-tone paint finish offered for customers to apply specifically on the new 750S supercar. Mclaren claims this multi-tone paint scheme is more technical than anything MSO has developed before, where separate shades of colours bunched together create an illusion of light to dark, which “gives a sense of speed and acceleration, even when the 750S is stationary.” This offering is currently presented in three variants – Spectrum Blue, Spectrum Grey and Spectrum Orange. Further, it can be specified in unique colourways that shall be designed and delivered by MSO.

German auto giant Volkswagen has appointed a new managing director for its Middle East operations. His name is Matthias Ziegler, and he will overlook the business for the brand in eight countries across the region.

Matthias brings a wealth of experience into the equation, with several senior-level sales positions in his portfolio at Volkswagen, where he has been since 2006. His recent post involved overseeing Volkswagen’s business across several Asia-Pacific markets, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea.

For the new role, Matthias is stationed at Volkswagen’s regional headquarters in Dubai, UAE. However, this isn’t his first work-related visit to the said city. After the opening of Audi Volkswagen Middle East in 2005, he was stationed in Dubai for a three-month project the following year. 

2025 marks the year when Jaguar will move its entire product portfolio to run on futuristic, near-silent-running electric-propelled motors. But before that, the British luxury firm wants to conserve distinctive notes of the Jaguar F-TYPE V8 for future generations to appreciate. Hence, the luxury carmaker has recorded the F-TYPE’s unmistakable, supercharged V8 soundtrack inside a soundproof room at Gaydon Engineering Centre, where the sports car’s exhaust note was originally tuned. These recordings will be catalogued in the British Library archives as well as its official website from Autumn 2023. Charles Richardson, Senior Sound Engineer at Jaguar, commented that more than 85 iterations of the sound were tried out before they first launched the car. He further said, “The culmination of that work – the sounds you experience driving the F-TYPE R 75 – is something we want to be available for generations to come. Archiving it with the British Library allows us to do that, and that’s something we’re very proud of.”