It’s something that we seem to say at the end of every year, but the past 12 months have been generous when it comes to newly launched cars. By the same token, at this juncture we traditionally look forward to the next year, and while many car manufacturers play their cards very close to their chests, there are some models we actually know will be revealed during 2015, even if they’re not available for some time in the world’s showrooms.
Before we look forward with 2015’s dream list, however, it might be appropriate to look back at a true Middle East icon that the motoring world lost in 2014: the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. This region took to it like few others, with the result that they’re absolutely everywhere. Whether sporting those fabulous gull-wing doors or liberating that full-fat exhaust note with a fabric roof, the SLS might be too common a sight to turn heads here anymore, but surely its looks were a major factor in its popularity. After more than 10,000 examples were sold, it was killed off and, along with it, AMG’s masterpiece of a naturally aspirated, 6.2L, V8 engine.
Taking its place will be a car that Mercedes isn’t touting as a direct successor. Rather, the smaller, more sporting AMG GT is being hailed as a rival to the king of sports cars, the Porsche 911, and its mid-engined competitor the Audi R8. Its nose is long and bears a passing resemblance to the deceased SLS, but it’s shorter and has, to Middle East buyers’ chagrin, normal doors. But those who have driven it have been blown away by its old-school dynamics and the sheer excitement derived from driving it with spirit. Expect to see them on every street corner soon.
Lower in the pecking order, but no less important to this market, is Lexus. The “Japanese Mercedes” will be marketing its new and hotly anticipated RC and RC-F during the early part of 2015. I’ve driven it on track, although not for long, and can report that it’s a whole heap of fun to drive, if not to look at from the front. Lexus has Audi and BMW in its sights with the RC. It’s a worthy rival, but the Germans win hands down when it comes to interior design and tactility.
From Japan will also emerge the production version of Honda’s (or Accura’s, depending on where you live) NSX. We already know what it will look like (see below), as it’s been touring the world’s shows for more than two years in concept form, and we can expect nothing short of a game-changer when it comes to the way it drives and its hybrid power-train.
BMW’s 3 Series and Audi’s A4 models will be gearing up to defend themselves from an all-out attack from Jaguar’s lithe XE and Alfa Romeo’s yet-to-be-unwrapped new Giulia, and Infiniti will be taking the fight to the luxury compact crossover market with its curvy and practical Q30. We will wave goodbye to the LR4 from Land Rover, as the Discovery moniker will be making a comeback with the Sport, which combines funky Evoque styling cues and inimitable off-road capability.
The year will see more in the way of engine downsizing, too, with Ferrari launching its 458M, which is rumoured to be coming with a significantly smaller V8 engine, albeit turbocharged to give it even more performance potential than before; Audi’s new R8 will finally take a bow, with it too being marketed with smaller-capacity, turbocharged engine options.
Surely, though, Aston Martin’s Lagonda Taraf will make for one of the most spectacular sights on our roads when deliveries start in early 2015 – and it will be a sight that, initially at least, will only be seen in the GCC. Designed for – and marketed exclusively to – this region as a spiritual successor to the William Towns wedge classic that Arab drivers still obsess over today, if nothing else it shows how dependent luxury carmakers are on the place we call home. It will be quite a year, of that we can all be sure.
khackett@thenational.ae
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