DUBAI // Car dealers are weighing up their options as they wait to see what effect deregulation of fuel prices will have on business.
While some were confident that sales would continue, others were cautious, saying that they might have to rethink what vehicles they offer.
Fahd Al Henawi, of Motor World Automobiles, in Al Shamkha, Abu Dhabi, specialises in selling cars with eight or more cylinders but said that if there is going to be a big fuel price increase then he will have to change tack.
“We also have smaller, four-cylinder vehicles but we focus on the big ones,” he said.
“I would have to invest in getting more of the smaller vehicles for sale if the fuel price is going to vary very much.”
However, he said that if the increase is minimal, then he did not think it would affect his business.
As of August 1, the government will no longer regulate the cost of fuel. Instead, it will be set each month by an independent fuel price committee.
Fuel prices in the UAE are about Dh1.72 a litre, which is the highest in the Gulf but among the cheapest in the world.
Other car dealers felt it was too soon to draw conclusions on how the decision would affect buying trends. “It’s too early to say how much, if any, effect we will see from the deregulation in fuel,” said an employee at Arabian Automobiles in Deira, Dubai. “I think we need to see how this policy is implemented for a while before we see a trend among consumers.
“But even before this announcement we were seeing car makers opt for smaller engines and more fuel efficiency.
“In general, the trend is towards more hybrid or alternative fuel and I suspect that will continue.”
He felt that, despite the rule change, fuel prices will continue to remain relatively low.
“Sheikh Mohammed is keen on more environmentally friendly vehicles, and I think that is the way forward in general,” he said.
One dealer said he thought the reform would have no more effect than increasing rents or Salik road-toll fees.
“I pay Dh1,000 a month in Salik and my rent has been increasing every year and yet so are our sales. Competition with other dealers has more of an effect on sales than governmental rule changes,” said a spokesman at 4X4 Motors in Dubai.
One car maker that felt that the move would have little effect on business was luxury British marque Aston Martin.
Neil Slade, Aston Martin’s general manager in the Mena region, said: “We are in a small percentage of the market and we operate in countries in Europe and North America, where fuel prices are more expensive than the UAE.
“In that respect we don’t really see much of an effect from deregulation of fuel prices.
“Our customers tend to be more wealthy and, as such, don’t factor in the cost of fuel when they are considering purchasing one of our cars.”
nhanif@thenational.ae
*Additional reporting by Dana Moukhallati
WORLD'S%2010%20HIGHEST%20MOUNTAINS
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
