SAIC-backed British brand MG Motor has officially entered the eleventh market in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) belt. Which is it? Palestine. The carmaker has inked a distribution agreement with Palestine Automobile Company (PAC). The innings have begun with two new showrooms, one on Al-Irsal Street in Al-Bireh and the other on Beit Aiba-Deir Sharaf Street in Nablus. MG Motor plans to introduce a range of hybrid and electric vehicles in the Palestinian market. Its regional partner PAC will look after sales, after-sales services and certified pre-owned sales. PAC, founded in 1996, has also confirmed further expansion of MG Motor’s nationwide network.

Renault India has announced that deliveries of upgraded AMT versions of the Kiger and Triber have begun. They comply with the BS6-II emission norms. AMT-equipped derivatives of the Kiger start at INR 8.47 lakh, whereas those of the Triber begin at INR 8.12 lakh (both prices are ex-showroom). 

With the Bolide, Bugatti aimed to build the lightest possible car with the iconic 8.0-litre W16 turbo engine. Two and a half years after unveiling the Bolide in concept iteration, the car is now being refined on racetracks. Downforce is kept as performance priority, and Christian Willmann, chief engineer of the car, explains: “This extensive aerodynamic development work normally only takes place in the highest league of motorsport, but it has allowed us to develop the car down to the smallest detail for ultimate performance and driveability.”  The effort seemed worthwhile as the Bolide can generate up to 2.5 lateral G forces and almost three tons of downforce. The Bolide’s aero package can also be tuned as per the driver’s needs to provide just the right balance of downforce and drag. The first deliveries of the car will begin in 2024. Production is limited to just 40 units at a net unit price of four million euros each.

Did you know that the world’s largest authorised McLaren service centre is in Dubai, UAE? Located at Sheikh Zayed Road, spanning 3,400 sq.m and with 9 certified personnel, the facility has turned one. Over the first year, it serviced over 400 cars, more than 50 of which were from McLaren’s Ultimate Series, like the P1, Senna, Speedtail and Elva. And to celebrate its first anniversary, McLaren Dubai, part of the Khalifa Juma Al Nabooda Group of companies and the official dealer of McLaren Automotive in the region, offers a complimentary McLaren health check. This offer is available until June 9, 2023. 

A lot is new with the new BMW 5 Series, but the highlight feature title resides with the ability to play games via the Air Console app. Courtesy of a partnership formed between the BMW Group and gaming platform AirConsole allows the driver and passengers to play so-called casual games while the new 5 Series is stationary. After synchronising it with the vehicle via the AirConsole app, the user’s smartphone acts as a controller. The AirConsole app supports multiple players simultaneously, so involving all vehicle occupants in competition mode in the same game is possible. Limited titles, including Go Kart Go, Golazo, Music Guess and Overcooked, are available to play from the start, with portfolio expansion slated in the future. This AirConsole app with gaming capabilities will be successively offered in other mid-range and luxury BMW vehicles in the forthcoming years. 

A few weeks ago, Jaguar Land Rover announced that it would bifurcate its model lines to create separate entities. And that’s what we can see here – the new logo and how the individual brands have been branched. Under the classy-ly blended JLR badge are four names – Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar. The first three have been underlined with the Land Rover logo in the middle. Overall, it is easy to understand how future models will be categorised.