I am one lucky car gal, as I am attending the Dubai Auto Show this week with GM and reporting on the state of the auto industry here: Middle Eastern style, and here style and fashion trends are hot!

Dubai residents LOVE their cars in this fast growing modern metropolis sprouting out of the desert sands with skyscrapers, modern freeways, enormous shopping malls, traffic jams, crazy drivers and smog. One of the buzz topics this week is whether Dubai car buyers will embrace alternative fuel vehicles such as Hybrids and electric cars.

Meanwhile, 7days.ea says, "the UAE has a passionate love affair with high emission cars - chunky SUV's and big-engine sports cars. The vehicles are not driven out of necessity most of the time, but rather for fashion and status and with little consideration of the amount of damage their emissions are doing to the planet. And with nearly every second car on UAE roads being an SUV or high carbon-emitting truck or sports car, would a similar type of 'tax' introduced here upset the gas-guzzling population? Would Dubai’s Jumeriah Jane's and show-off John’s, for example, give up their SUV's for a more environmentally friendly model of car, such as a hybrid?"

Women here are interested in safe cars with style, class and the women of Dubai are as passionate about cars as the men. SUV's are popular among the many European expats living here. There is even a driving safety school at the Autodrome, popular with women new to the region.

People in the UAE tend to buy cars for their looks rather than practicality and Dubai is known as an emotional car buyers market.

According to Guy Edmunds, Sales and Marketing Manager, Trading Enterprise, Honda, "Women in general are more interested in design than men. Though both tend to look for the same things in a car, what varies is the level of priority. Men usually look at the pricing, the costs involved with servicing, insurance, reliability, safety, and the reputation of the retailer, especially for servicing and maintenance and the resale value.

Safe Cars:
Arijit Basu of Al Futtaim Automall , rates Honda Jazz as the best car for women. "It's a safe car, since it comes with two air-bags as standard accessory. It also offers tremendous flexibility, since the passenger seats can be adjusted to lie fully flat for more storage space," says Basu. Apart from the Jazz, Basu also rates the Peugeot 206 and 307 as "stylish, though not as flexible a car in terms of seat adjustment." In Japan, the Jazz has out-sold the Corolla because of its flexibility and fuel efficiency, but that's not the case in the UAE. People here tend to buy bigger cars since petrol prices are not as high as the rest of the world," says Basu.

But, whatever the buying habits, women form a crucial part of the Dubai market for every car manufacturer.

Jeremy Weatherhill, Divisional Manager, Peugeot, says "Women are important for us, since they form 50 per cent of our customer base. They are the decision makers in choosing a vehicle for the family. Our company has a high number of female staff on its design team and our interior design manager is also a woman," says Weatherhill, who rates the Peugeot 206 and 206CC, 307and 307 CC, and 407 as the best five cars for women.

There is another school of thought that feels women are not much different from men when it comes to cars. "Women are as passionate about cars as men. Small hatch-back, salon cars and SUVs are in high demand among women customers. Some of our new models have certain convenient options such as hangers for shopping bags in the luggage compartment, and in the front under the glove compartment for ladies' bags. The best five cars from the Hyundai stable for women include Getz, Accent, Matrix, Tucson and Sonata," says Omar Baddar, Marketing Manager, Juma Al Majid Est. - Hyundai.

Buying a car is a personal choice, says Guenther Seeman, MD, BMW Group, Middle East. "Some women go for sporty and dynamic cars with higher horsepower, while others prefer the more subtle and stylised cars with lower horsepower. We conducted a study with our 3-Series female customers and most of them say they liked the elegant design, the comfort in driving the car and all accessories that make life easier for the driver, apart from the reputation of the car, quality, prestige and safety."

Ideal Cars:
Julian White, Sales and Operations Manager of 4x4 Motors recommends the "Peugeot 206CC, Mercedes SLK, Toyota Rav 4, Mitsubishi Pajero SWB and the Jaguar X Type as ideal cars for women."

With the fast-moving expatriate population in Dubai, one thing all buyers should keep in mind is the resale value of a car. "In Dubai reselling a car is an important factor as well as having the vehicle inspected by a certified workshop to ensure the vehicle is safe and road worthy," says White. And that's the last word when it comes to buying a car, for men and women alike.

On average, cars in Dubai are less expensive than in Europe, North America, or Australia because there is no purchase tax and dealer markups tend to be lower. Regulations say each person can only own one car.

How expensive is gasoline in Dubai? About the same as the United States, surprisingly! Gasoline costs between 3 and 4 Dirhams per gallon, and 3.67 Dirhams = 1 US Dollar.

What would YOU be driving in Dubai?

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
www.carblabber.com

(Jody DeVere pictured here at the GM Style event in Dubai with Tamer Hagras, model, actor and a major motion picture star who is a household name in the Middle East).

Women car buyers: excerpts from a Gulf News article
Could this happen ? excerpts from 7Days

Related Links:
http://www.blogher.com/what-do-gm-dubai-and-autism-have-common
http://www.thewip.net/contributors/2007/03/religious_authorities_in_duba...
http://hormonecoloreddays.blogspot.com/2007/01/and-you-thought-mall-of-a...