Editorial

January is the dawn of a new decade, but before we delve deep into what’s coming this year, this issue mostly covers the last major event of a past decade that offered a mixed-bag of emotions, from promise and prosperity to accomplishment followed by utter failure.

December ‘09 in the region witnessed the Dubai Motor Show, an event that was less glamorous than its preceding versions but nonetheless offered automotive fans and consumers a good look of what to expect in the two years to come.

Evidently, anyone that had anything to do with the auto industry wants to forget the past two years, and has already totally erased 2009, as it was a year by which failure will be measured for years to come.

It’s not that 2009 did not offer anything great in the automotive sense, but the world of banking and economics conspired against consumers and literally robbed them, and the auto industry, of valuable purchasing and selling power.

The market freefall has leveled off now and is heading for a resurge eventually, but as of now, no one knows when that climb is coming, and the peak that will eventually be reached will never compare to what was reached in 2007 and 2008. The whole economic spectrum, from government to consumer and everything in between have learned a well-earned lesson in how to behave and be cautious with their assets after a decade of economical and credit decadence.

Automotive decadence is also on the decline, horsepower is dropping and efficiency has never been better, and the Dubai Motor Show was the scene where almost all manufacturers unveiled their plans, present and future, to tackle the thorny issue of environmental preservation and sustainability through ingenious technological and sometimes purely simple solutions.

Our cover story summarizes what the new General Motors, one of the companies most affected by the recession, is doing to climb out of the stigma of its former squandering self, back to the top class automaker it once was, and things look promising in that prospect.

We hope you enjoy this issue. 2010 promises to be a changing year for ArabWheels as we formally kick off our new look, and we promise more reader-involving features to come in the nearest future.