Bufori Geneva

Motoring has always had its eccentric brands and Bufori is no exception. It's a Malaysian firm making old style cars. The operations started over 20 years ago in Australia, until the headquarters and production were transferred to Malaysia in 1994. Bufori is specialised in building cars in the classic design of the 1930's, incorporating state-of-the-art technology.

The current model is the La Joya, something like a Morgan car but not as nice (I think). The new model is the Geneva (pictured). Each of the Geneva vehicles moves through 24 production stages and requires more than 6,000 man hours to create. So they are not cheap. The are only sold in a few countries but expanding slowly.

I'd have to say I would never own one, but I could see why some may be attracted to its olde worlde charm with a modern twist. It would look smart parked outside the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. A very unusual car.

The bottom line: It certainly adds variety to an all to often predictable motoring landscape.

Car Styling

I am a believer that a car should be more than just well engineered, though that is very important. It also needs to have a 'wow' factor, or at least be pleasing on the eye.

I feel that Italian styling with cars is good. From Ferrari to Alfa, they look right and thankfully are better engineered than they used to be.

I also like the style of what is left of the British car industry; Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguars are examples of what I'm talking about.

The French can be stylish but they don't set the pace as they used to in the style department.

The USA is a mixed bag, from the 'box on wheels' Jeeps, to the iconic Corvettes and Mustangs. Japanese tastes are far too conservative and it shows in their cars. In a word boring.

The Germans are obsessed with engineering and style is secondary. I quite like where the Volkswagen brand is heading, whereas the German premium brands are losing their way. The styling direction of Daimler is shown below in this concept. Does it push the right buttons for you? Is this the shape to enhance Mercedes Benz cars?


The bottom line: Taste in styling is subjective, but this to my eyes is getting into the ugly zone.

The UAE Car Market: 2002-2008

According to Wikipedia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The capital and second largest city of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. They also buy cars, which is where my interest comes in.

The UAE sales are from 2002 to 2008. In 2002 there were 120,000 vehicles sold in the UAE, and by 2008, that had gone up to 360,000, an increase of 200%. Toyota is the largest brand in the Emirates. It had 30,000 sales (24.5% market share) in 2002 and by ‘08 sold 91,000 (25.3%). Nissan is second with sales going from 34,300 (28.4%) to 54,300 (15.2%). Others were:

3 Mitsubishi 8,400 (7.0%) and 43,600 (12.2%)
4 Honda 10,500 (8.7%) to 23,600 (6.6%)
5 GM 4,500 (3.6%) to 23,400 (6.5%)
6 Hyundai 2,500 (2.1%) to 15,100 (4.2%)
7 Chery new (0%) now 13,900 (3.9%)
8 Kia 1,800 (1.5%) to 10,300 (2.9%)
9 Mazda 3,600 (3%) to 9,000 (2.5%)
10 Mercedes 2,800 (2.3) to 6,800 (1.9%)

The market is strongly Japanese, Toyota top and looking comfortable. Oil rich economies in the Middle East area have vehicle sales growing quickly. Maybe it's time they were a little more transparent reporting the figures as they are increasingly important players in the world's car industry.

The bottom line: I would love to visit the UAE, especially Abu Dhabi.

PS. Sales figures have been modified.