The Middle Eastern Automobile Market and Culture Thereof

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GTPlanet, I've been wondering. I've heard of Middle Eastern Rally, I've heard of (and seen) the FIA GT All-Star race on the beautiful Bahrain circuit, and I've been kind of wondering. How is the Middle Eastern auto market like over there?

I was watching the Fox Soccer Channel (formerly Fox Sports World), and I seen a player profile of a team called Al Ahli, or whatever. The 23-year old United Arab Emirates footballer whose name fails me (his first name is Faizal) has an incredible toy to play with, this beautiful Mercedes-Benz which HAD to have a 6-figure price tag. Another GTPlanet member said that "Bahrain is like the captial of supercars." While the FSC show "Football Asia" continued to talk about the player and what he does when not playing football, he drove his white Mercedes-Benz in the beautiful downtown area of Dubai.

So GTPlanet, that got me wondering. While many of us probably can't stand the Middle East right about now politcally, I'm wondering what the automobile market is like in the Middle East. I pretty much know that not everyone has six-figure price tag cars. So you know, what's the hottest seller? What do many of them like to drive? What are some of their favorite cars of all time? It's just another see the world deal.
 
The Toyota LandCruiser.

However, many of the uber-rich Princes buy anything they can get hold of. One has a CLK-GTR (the Le Mans car - one of 7), which he decided wasn't fast enough (despite the 7 litre engine, 600hp, 3.2s 0-62mph and 200mph top speed), so got Mercedes to further tune the lump...

You make a hyper-fast one-off and either these guys or the Sultan of Brunei get hold of it.
 
I think the ol' Sultan ought to have his head examined. A Ferrari wagon? WHY? It looks awful and can't keep up with a stock Mercedes E55 AMG wagon, thus negating the performance factor.
 
Just a bunch of oil sultans that swim in rivers of money while their people live in absolute misery isn't representative of the Middle Eastern automotive market.

The most common car in the Middle East is the Toyota Hilux
 
Woolie Wool
I think the ol' Sultan ought to have his head examined. A Ferrari wagon? WHY? It looks awful and can't keep up with a stock Mercedes E55 AMG wagon, thus negating the performance factor.
Click to expand...
Why?

Because you haven't got one.

And I haven't got one.

And nobody else has one.
 
Most of what I know about Middle Eastern car culture boils down to this:

Toyota pickups and Land Cruisers.

Incredible collections that make Reggie Jackson and Jay Leno look like pikers.

Whackos who buy fleets of Camrys and then flail them all over public roads, destroying them, and likely a few parked cars, bystanders, stray dogs, lamp poles, and anything else that gets in the way.
 
ferrariwagonbruneipossible3py.jpg

I like it.

daggoth
Just a bunch of oil sultans that swim in rivers of money while their people live in absolute misery isn't representative of the Middle Eastern automotive market.
Click to expand...
You know, Brunai is so small and rich that all of it's citizens get free education and health care? It's not all bad.
daggoth
The most common car in the Middle East is the Toyota Hilux
Click to expand...
I was watching a documentry a while ago (something about westerners interacting with Islam in the middle east), I kept examining the backround and 99% of the vehicles were Toyota pickups. :lol:
 
A Ferrari wagon? Perhaps a weirder and better tradeoff was the Porsche Cayenne. I'd have to imagine a Ferrari WAGON going around a Middle Eastern city I'm starting to like, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. When I seen that "Football Asia" coverage of the Emirates footballer, I've seen some pretty nice pictures of Dubai, not to mention the sweet Mercedes-Benz he was riding in. I think we have someone on GTPlanet from the Middle East. So, I don't know what that person may think about Middle Eastern autos. That person's name fails me, however.

Call me crazy, but that Ferrari 456 wagon kind of looks like an old Ford station wagon/estate car from the early 1990s. I'm thinking Contour or Taurus, but what do I know? Before I REALLY lose my mind while watching this rugby game, reply on, people.
 
Contour wasn't sold as a wagon. Taurus was a wagon from 1986 to 1991, then 1992 to 1995, then 1996 to 1999, then 2000 to 2005. I think you're thinking of the 1996-1999 model:

96.mercury.sablewagon.f3-4.350.jpg
 
As a small update, the UAE footballer in question is Faizal Khalil of the football club Al Ahli. It was nice to see shiny white Mercedes-Benz rolling on the highways of Dubai. Dubai... talk about a jewel in the desert. Very nice city from what I've seen.

So only few Middle Easterners make enough money to own some of those bigtime sports cars? Carry on this deal, if you wish. By the way, my bad M5Power. Thanks for setting me straight on the station wagon/estate car deal.
 

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