This core age profile points to a generation seeking greater freedom to choose when, how and what they drive as they balance professional and family commitments. Activity rises during the morning as customers head to offices and schools, then builds again around afternoon pick-up times as families manage school collections and after-school activities. At weekends, shopping, leisure and social visits bring more customers onto the road.

This reflects the way many people live across the region, where changing jobs, growing families and new priorities can lead residents to move homes more frequently. From housing and entertainment to transport, greater choice and access are becoming increasingly important, allowing services to adapt as people’s lives change.

In Dubai, Karama, Al Nahda, Dubai Marina and Al Rigga rank among the most popular areas for vehicle pick-ups and drop-offs, with demand concentrated around residential neighbourhoods and nearby parking areas. Office-led travel also accounts for a major share of daily ridership, with Barsha Heights, Business Bay and the area around Emirates Headquarters among the strongest locations. These journeys include daily commutes, meetings and trips that involve several stops or fall outside fixed public transport schedules.

The Ford Territory, BYD QIN and MINI Cooper rank among the most preferred vehicles on the platform, with SUVs continuing to attract strong demand. Vehicle needs can change quickly, with a customer choosing a compact car today before moving to an SUV as their family grows, or upgrading to try something different. Long-term rental allows the vehicle to adapt to the customer’s life rather than tying them to the same car for several years.

“Life in the UAE moves quickly, and people’s circumstances and tastes can change considerably within a few years. We are seeing the same mindset with cars, as people want the convenience of having a vehicle alongside the flexibility to choose one that suits their needs today. Our data helps us understand how those needs are evolving so we can position vehicles effectively and build a fleet around the way residents move. At Udrive, our vision is to make mobility seamless, accessible and data-driven, ensuring our service continues to evolve with the needs of residents across the country, ” said Hasib Khan, Founder and CEO of Udrive.

Through the Udrive app, customers can locate, book and unlock a vehicle in minutes, with flexible rental options by the minute, hour, day, week or month. The service is designed around convenience and transparency, with zero deposit, no paperwork, office visits or delivery fees, and inclusive benefits such as free fuel and parking.

Udrive operates a fleet of over 2,000 vehicles across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman and has completed more than three million rentals. In 2025, customers travelled more than 45 million kilometres and completed over half a million trips, while registrations increased by 14% compared with 2024. Residents account for 90% of the customer base, demonstrating strong everyday demand for flexible car access.

As cities grow and travel patterns become more varied, Udrive will continue expanding its coverage and fleet choice across the country. The latest data shows car sharing becoming a regular part of commuting, family routines and leisure travel, giving residents access to a vehicle when needed.

With these changing routines in mind, Yango Ride, the ride-hailing service part of global tech company Yango Group, shares five practical ways to make getting around easier.

Plan the airport journey before departure day

Getting to the airport can feel like the start of the holiday rush. Planning the night before can make the whole experience feel more relaxed. Double-check your departure terminal, set your packed bags aside early, and allow extra time for traffic or longer-than-usual security queues.

Scheduling a ride in advance can also help take the pressure off. Live tracking allows passengers to see when the driver is approaching and step outside at the right moment instead of waiting curbside in the heat. Selecting a clear pick-up point is especially helpful in buildings with multiple entrances, while families or passengers carrying extra luggage can choose a car with enough space for a comfortable journey.

Keep family days flexible and comfortable

Family days are much easier when everyone can stay cool and comfortable. Malls and indoor theme parks give children plenty of room to stay active away from the summer heat, while summer camps add regular drop-offs and pick-ups to an already busy week.

Coordination before setting off can save time later. Agree on an easy-to-find entrance or meeting point, especially at popular venues where several families may be arriving at once. Yango Ride’s Kids category can be used to travel in a car equipped with a child safety seat and is better suited to a family outing.

Turn a weekend into a local staycation

A weekend at a waterfront resort near Jebel Ali or a quieter hotel around Dubai’s historic districts can provide a refreshing change of setting without the planning or travel time of a longer trip. Booking a ride also makes it easier to bring the family and the bags without searching for hotel parking or leaving a car unused all weekend. Before the stay ends, arrange the return journey ahead of check-out so there is no last-minute rush. With the travel taken care of, there may even be time to enjoy lunch nearby or visit one more attraction before heading home.

Make the most of Dubai after dark

Dubai takes on a different rhythm after sunset, when cooler temperatures make it more comfortable to spend time outdoors. Ride-hailing can keep the night flexible when plans begin in one neighborhood and end somewhere else. Plan a walk around Al Seef before dinner in Downtown Dubai or meet friends near Dubai Marina without using the best part of the evening to search for parking.

Before setting off, a clear pick-up point away from crowded entrances will help the driver locate the passenger easily. If travelling home late, share the trip details with a trusted contact and enjoy the journey without having to think about the drive back.

Stay cool from door to destination

Even a short summer outing can feel tiring when it involves walking through the heat, sitting in traffic and searching for parking. Ride-hailing makes it easier to move from a cool indoor space to an air-conditioned destination with as little time outside as possible. Passengers can settle in and focus on the plans ahead instead of the road.

Behind the scenes, Yango’s routing technology uses local road conditions and predicted congestion to calculate efficient routes. In 2025, it saved users more than five million hours across over 20 cities, including 34,000 hours in Dubai and Abu Dhabi combined. With the journey taken care of, the whole outing can feel calmer, cooler and easier from beginning to end.

The Zeekr 7X has earned a Guinness World Records title for the tightest gap passed through whilst drifting an electric car, successfully passing through a gap with an astonishing clearance of just 25 centimetres.

The record was officially achieved at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, showcasing the exceptional precision, stability, and dynamic control of the Zeekr 7X. The achievement demonstrates the advanced capabilities of Zeekr’s intelligent electric vehicle platform and reinforces the brand’s commitment to engineering excellence and innovation.

The Zeekr 7X’s record-setting performance is underpinned by a combination of advanced chassis engineering and intelligent vehicle control systems. Its front double wishbone suspension delivers exceptional steering precision and responsiveness, faithfully translating driver inputs into accurate vehicle movement. The high-output rear electric motor provides instant, precisely controllable torque, enabling smooth, sustained drifts while allowing fine adjustments to the vehicle’s direction through throttle modulation. Complementing these systems, the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) provides exceptional body rigidity and a low centre of gravity, enhancing stability, balance, and driver confidence under extreme driving conditions.

The record attempt formed the centrepiece of Zeekr’s global celebrations marking its fifth anniversary. Since its launch in 2021, Zeekr has rapidly established itself as a premium intelligent electric mobility brand, continually pushing the boundaries of design, technology, safety, and performance. This latest Guinness World Records achievement reflects the brand’s relentless pursuit of innovation and serves as a powerful demonstration of the engineering excellence behind the Zeekr 7X.

“Achieving a Guinness World Records title is a proud milestone for Zeekr and a fitting way to celebrate our fifth anniversary,” said Mr. Mars Chen, Vice President of Zeekr. “The Zeekr 7X embodies our commitment to intelligent engineering, precision, and performance. This achievement demonstrates the strength of our technology and reinforces our ambition to continue redefining premium electric mobility through innovation.”

“This Guinness World Records achievement reflects the innovation, precision, and performance that define Zeekr,” said Roberto Colucci, Director of Electric Vehicles at AWR Automotive. “We’re proud to celebrate this milestone and to bring the intelligent technology and advanced engineering of the Zeekr 7X to customers across the UAE.”

The celebration continued on 13 June 2026, when more than 200 Zeekr owners, customers, partners, and members of the UAE media gathered at Yas Marina Circuit to commemorate both the world record achievement and Zeekr’s five-year journey. The event brought together the Zeekr community to experience the brand’s latest innovations and celebrate this landmark moment.

As Zeekr enters its next chapter, the company remains committed to accelerating the future of intelligent electric mobility through cutting-edge technology, exceptional craftsmanship, and customer-centric innovation.

Udrive, the UAE’s leading car-sharing platform, has strengthened its mobility network across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman, as app-based car access becomes a bigger part of how people move across the country. In 2025 alone, Udrive customers have driven more than 45 million kilometres, reflecting rising demand for smarter urban mobility that aligns with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan’s focus on flexible means of transportation.

The growth reflects Udrive’s expanding role as a practical alternative to traditional car rental and private car ownership. The platform now operates a fleet of over 2,000 vehicles and has completed more than three million rentals to date. In 2025, Udrive recorded over half a million trips, while registrations grew by 14% compared with 2024, indicating stronger adoption among customers seeking on-demand access to vehicles.

Residents make up 90% of Udrive’s customer base, showing how car sharing has become part of daily commuting, errands, weekend plans and short-term transport needs. Retention has strengthened, with active customers for 12 months or more rising from 21% to 32%. Growth across shorter-term segments has also supported higher trip volumes and revenue, pointing to sustained adoption among both new and returning users.

Fleet choice has also expanded; Udrive now offers vehicles from Kia, Ford, BYD and MINI, with Toyota, Suzuki, Nissan and Mitsubishi also available on the platform. With the company’s ongoing partnership with AGMC, recent additions include MINI Cooper S and John Cooper Works models, the launch of MINI Convertibles. Udrive has also added hybrid BYD Song and BYD QIN vehicles to its fleet, offering customers premium, lower-emission mobility options.

“At Udrive, our growth is being shaped by customers who want access without the cost and commitment of ownership. Expanding across four emirates and growing our fleet gives residents and visitors the freedom to choose the right car for every journey. Stronger retention shows that flexible mobility is becoming part of daily life in the UAE, while supporting a more practical alternative to private vehicle dependency,” said Hasib Khan, Founder and CEO of Udrive.

As part of its wider network growth, Udrive has added new Business Zones in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, extending coverage across almost every area within its operating network. This gives customers more flexibility to pick up and end trips across key residential, commercial and lifestyle districts, supporting everyday journeys across the UAE’s major urban centres.

Through the Udrive app, customers can locate, book and unlock a vehicle in minutes, with flexible rental options by the minute, hour, day, week or month. The service is designed around convenience and transparency, with zero deposit, no paperwork, office visits or delivery fees, and inclusive benefits such as free fuel and parking.

As the UAE’s mobility needs continue to evolve, Udrive will focus on deeper coverage, stronger fleet variety, and partnerships that improve access to flexible transport across the country. The company’s growth strategy is centred on making shared mobility easier to use, more widely available, and more relevant to how residents move across cities every day.

The expanded Udrive network is now live on the app. Customers can open the map, find a nearby car, choose the rental option that fits their journey and start driving in minutes.

Udrive, the UAE’s leading car-sharing platform, has strengthened its mobility network across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman, as app-based car access becomes a bigger part of how people move across the country. In 2025 alone, Udrive customers have driven more than 45 million kilometres, reflecting rising demand for smarter urban mobility that aligns with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan’s focus on flexible means of transportation.

The growth reflects Udrive’s expanding role as a practical alternative to traditional car rental and private car ownership. The platform now operates a fleet of over 2,000 vehicles and has completed more than three million rentals to date. In 2025, Udrive recorded over half a million trips, while registrations grew by 14% compared with 2024, indicating stronger adoption among customers seeking on-demand access to vehicles.

Residents make up 90% of Udrive’s customer base, showing how car sharing has become part of daily commuting, errands, weekend plans and short-term transport needs. Retention has strengthened, with active customers for 12 months or more rising from 21% to 32%. Growth across shorter-term segments has also supported higher trip volumes and revenue, pointing to sustained adoption among both new and returning users.

Fleet choice has also expanded; Udrive now offers vehicles from Kia, Ford, BYD and MINI, with Toyota, Suzuki, Nissan and Mitsubishi also available on the platform. With the company’s ongoing partnership with AGMC, recent additions include MINI Cooper S and John Cooper Works models, the launch of MINI Convertibles. Udrive has also added hybrid BYD Song and BYD QIN vehicles to its fleet, offering customers premium, lower-emission mobility options.

“At Udrive, our growth is being shaped by customers who want access without the cost and commitment of ownership. Expanding across four emirates and growing our fleet gives residents and visitors the freedom to choose the right car for every journey. Stronger retention shows that flexible mobility is becoming part of daily life in the UAE, while supporting a more practical alternative to private vehicle dependency,” said Hasib Khan, Founder and CEO of Udrive.

As part of its wider network growth, Udrive has added new Business Zones in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, extending coverage across almost every area within its operating network. This gives customers more flexibility to pick up and end trips across key residential, commercial and lifestyle districts, supporting everyday journeys across the UAE’s major urban centres.

Through the Udrive app, customers can locate, book and unlock a vehicle in minutes, with flexible rental options by the minute, hour, day, week or month. The service is designed around convenience and transparency, with zero deposit, no paperwork, office visits or delivery fees, and inclusive benefits such as free fuel and parking.

As the UAE’s mobility needs continue to evolve, Udrive will focus on deeper coverage, stronger fleet variety, and partnerships that improve access to flexible transport across the country. The company’s growth strategy is centred on making shared mobility easier to use, more widely available, and more relevant to how residents move across cities every day.

The expanded Udrive network is now live on the app. Customers can open the map, find a nearby car, choose the rental option that fits their journey and start driving in minutes.

The Zeekr 7X has earned a Guinness World Records title for the tightest gap passed through whilst drifting an electric car, successfully passing through a gap with an astonishing clearance of just 25 centimetres.

The record was officially achieved at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, showcasing the exceptional precision, stability, and dynamic control of the Zeekr 7X. The achievement demonstrates the advanced capabilities of Zeekr’s intelligent electric vehicle platform and reinforces the brand’s commitment to engineering excellence and innovation.

The Zeekr 7X’s record-setting performance is underpinned by a combination of advanced chassis engineering and intelligent vehicle control systems. Its front double wishbone suspension delivers exceptional steering precision and responsiveness, faithfully translating driver inputs into accurate vehicle movement. The high-output rear electric motor provides instant, precisely controllable torque, enabling smooth, sustained drifts while allowing fine adjustments to the vehicle’s direction through throttle modulation. Complementing these systems, the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) provides exceptional body rigidity and a low centre of gravity, enhancing stability, balance, and driver confidence under extreme driving conditions.

The record attempt formed the centrepiece of Zeekr’s global celebrations marking its fifth anniversary. Since its launch in 2021, Zeekr has rapidly established itself as a premium intelligent electric mobility brand, continually pushing the boundaries of design, technology, safety, and performance. This latest Guinness World Records achievement reflects the brand’s relentless pursuit of innovation and serves as a powerful demonstration of the engineering excellence behind the Zeekr 7X.

“Achieving a Guinness World Records title is a proud milestone for Zeekr and a fitting way to celebrate our fifth anniversary,” said Mr. Mars Chen, Vice President of Zeekr. “The Zeekr 7X embodies our commitment to intelligent engineering, precision, and performance. This achievement demonstrates the strength of our technology and reinforces our ambition to continue redefining premium electric mobility through innovation.”

“This Guinness World Records achievement reflects the innovation, precision, and performance that define Zeekr,” said Roberto Colucci, Director of Electric Vehicles at AWR Automotive. “We’re proud to celebrate this milestone and to bring the intelligent technology and advanced engineering of the Zeekr 7X to customers across the UAE.”

The celebration continued on 13 June 2026, when more than 200 Zeekr owners, customers, partners, and members of the UAE media gathered at Yas Marina Circuit to commemorate both the world record achievement and Zeekr’s five-year journey. The event brought together the Zeekr community to experience the brand’s latest innovations and celebrate this landmark moment.

As Zeekr enters its next chapter, the company remains committed to accelerating the future of intelligent electric mobility through cutting-edge technology, exceptional craftsmanship, and customer-centric innovation.

Conceived as a premium SUV brand, MHERO is engineered to break conventional boundaries. By combining high-end luxury, commanding mechanical craftsmanship and intelligent innovation, the brand offers an entirely new automotive model. The UAE market introduction highlights a versatile, SUV lineup featuring two distinct models, each designed to suit different lifestyles and driving preferences.

“The UAE is a dynamic and highly sophisticated market where customers expect quality, innovation, and excellence. We are confident that, in partnership with Al Ghurair Mobility, MHERO will meet and exceed these expectations. Al Ghurair shares our long-term vision and commitment to delivering a premium customer experience, making them the ideal partner to introduce the MHERO brand in the UAE and build a strong, sustainable presence in the market.” said Wu Jinxiang – General Manager, Dongfeng Motor Corporation.

The MHERO I stands as the ultimate expression of luxury and performance within the off-roading category. Delivering 804 HP, 1,050 Nm of torque, and a combined range of 825 km, it offers exceptional power, capability, and refinement.

Expanding the brand’s portfolio, the all New MHERO II is tailored for the tech-forward adventurer, it combines advanced connectivity with cutting-edge innovations that seamlessly integrate the vehicle into a digital urban lifestyle. The MHERO II delivers 677 HP, 848 Nm of torque, and an impressive combined range of 1,300 km.

John Iossifidis – Group Chief Executive Officer, Al Ghurair said, “The launch of MHERO in the UAE marks an important milestone in Al Ghurair’s journey to shape the future of mobility across the region. Guided by our purpose of ‘In pursuit of better,’ we are proud to partner with Dongfeng to bring advanced mobility solutions to a market that embraces innovation and premium experiences. By combining Dongfeng’s global technical expertise with Al Ghurair’s deep understanding of the region, we are introducing a brand that reflects the ambition, performance and forward-looking spirit of the UAE, making it the ideal home for MHERO’s next chapter.”

MHERO’s arrival is highly relevant to the unique automotive landscape of the UAE. The existing and future model line-up is meticulously engineered to withstand the region’s extreme climate and demanding terrain, making it uniquely built for both the UAE highways and desert conditions. This dual-purpose mastery appeals strongly to a growing demographic of UAE families and city explorers who seek uncompromising capability alongside high-end prestige.

Demonstrating its concrete, long-term commitment to the UAE market, Al Ghurair Mobility has officially opened the first MHERO showroom in Deira, Dubai. This location offers customers a personalised, immersive environment to explore the vehicles’ bespoke options. To further serve customers across the Emirates, a dedicated Abu Dhabi showroom and Service Centre is also scheduled to open soon, in addition to a fully equipped Service Center in Al Quoz, Dubai, strengthening the brand’s physical presence in key metropolitan hubs.

MHERO offers a smooth, high-status driving experience designed for drivers who refuse to compromise between refinement and sheer power, whether traversing the clean, contemporary architecture of central city streets or overcoming the most difficult and unpredictable desert terrains.

The PV5 marks an important milestone in Kia’s Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) strategy. How do you see purpose-built electric vehicles transforming industries such as logistics, last-mile delivery, smart cities and urban mobility across the GCC?

Generic vehicles were fulfilling the needs of logistics and last-mile delivery for the longest time, though not efficient in various aspects, whether performance, space or safety. Purpose-built vehicles has changed this equation entirely by addressing these longstanding shortcomings with precision.

PV5, for example, comes with flexibility, next-generation technology, and practicality to address niche requirements such as commercial, leisure or lifestyle use with specific configurations – the PV5 Passenger, PV5 Cargo, PV5 Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV), PV5 Taxi, and PV5 Prime Edition. Each of these vehicles benefit from a comprehensive suite of advanced driver assistance systems like telematics, real-time diagnostics, vehicle monitoring and much more, enhancing their suitability for professional fleet applications.

Electrification is becoming a major industry transition globally. How do you view the pace of EV adoption across the UAE and wider GCC region, and what role will Kia’s EV portfolio play in shaping the company’s long-term regional strategy?

The UAE and the wider GCC has already earned the recognition of being among the world’s fastest-growing EV markets, with the UAE ranking first in Middle East EV sales for the second consecutive year. What is equally significant is the qualitative shift accompanying this growth: range anxiety and battery lifecycle concerns, once the most persistently cited barriers to EV adoption, are receding rapidly, thanks to the UAE’s expanding charging network, which now encompasses more than 2,000 stations across the country.

For Kia, electrification will remain key as we expand our EV portfolio. We already have EV9, EV6, EV5, EV3 and PV5; and, this year, we will be rolling out EV9 GT, EV6 GT, and E4, showing that we’re not slowing our EV ambitions. These vehicles are a further extension of our electrification efforts to address business needs.

Many automotive brands today are repositioning themselves as mobility and technology companies rather than traditional car manufacturers. How does Kia view its own long-term identity within this broader transformation of the automotive industry?

For Kia, our identity as a Sustainable Mobility Solutions Provider is a declaration we made deliberately at our brand relaunch in 2021, before much of the industry had begun to seriously articulate a comparable vision. Electric vehicles, hybrids, autonomous driving, PBVs and smart connectivity are products and platforms in active deployment, outlined in our Plan S strategy, which has provided the architectural framework for Kia’s evolution from a traditional automotive manufacturer to a modern, sustainable mobility solutions provider.

The PV5 has been developed as Kia’s first dedicated PBV. What were the key customer needs or market trends that influenced its design and development?

The development of the PV5 was shaped by a convergence of structural market forces.  The rapid growth of last-mile delivery to networks, shared mobility needs, the demand for more sophisticated, connected fleets, and even the growing mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) economy have collectively redefined what a commercial vehicle must deliver. What became clear in this process is that no single configuration can adequately address the breadth and specificity of these demands, and that genuine versatility in mobility solutions requires sector-level engineering.

For example, to support People of Determination passengers, we developed Kia PV5 Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV), which has dedicated wheelchair features, and optimised passenger area. Critically, it is produced as a fully integrated OEM solution, i.e. the accessibility features are engineered into the vehicle’s architecture with structural integrity, occupant safety, and long-term user experience.

Charging infrastructure continues to develop across the region. How does the PV5’s charging capability and battery offering support the practical needs of commercial operators?

The PV5 supports both AC and DC charging solutions, including DC fast charging capability which gets the vehicle charged from 10% to 80% in just approximately 30 minutes, a figure that translates into reduced downtime and higher vehicle availability. Certain variants, such as the PV5 Cargo, are available with configurations designed to meet different operational requirements, including a long-range 71.2 kWh battery offering a WLTP range of up to 416 kilometres. That range profile is comfortably capable of sustaining intensive urban deployment cycles without requiring mid-shift recharging, addressing what has been the primary commercial hesitation around fleet electrification: that EVs cannot reliably meet the demands of professional use. The PV5 is engineered to answer that concern directly, and the GCC’s expanding charging infrastructure only strengthens the case further.

In this exclusive interview with Monzer Tohme, Managing Director, MEA & APAC, Keyloop explores how unified platforms, AI, and customer intelligence are redefining the future of automotive retail across the Middle East.

What is the fundamental change happening beneath the surface that most people are still underestimating within the automotive retail space?

The shift from selling cars to selling continuous experiences, and the data layer that makes it possible.

The change most people miss is this: automotive retail is quietly moving from a transactional model to a data-driven relationship model. Every interaction a customer has, a service visit, a finance inquiry, a test drive generates a signal. For decades, those signals were lost. Today, the dealers and OEMs who are winning are the ones connecting those signals into a single customer intelligence layer.

What’s underestimated is the compounding effect of that data. It’s not just about personalisation or marketing. It’s about predicting the next need before the customer voices it, whether that’s a service upsell, a renewal, or a new vehicle. The dealers who build that capability now will have a structural advantage that’s very hard to close later.

We often hear about digital transformation in automotive retail. In reality, what does that mean for a dealer on the ground here in the UAE?

It means removing the friction between the customer’s expectation and the dealer’s ability to deliver in real time, at every touchpoint.

UAE customers are among the most digitally sophisticated in the world. They research online, compare across brands, and expect a seamless handoff when they walk into a showroom. So for a dealer on the ground, digital transformation is not a back-office project. It is the front line of the customer experience.

In practical terms, it means a sales executive knowing a customer’s full history before the conversation starts. It means a service advisor being able to book, update, and close a job card without paper. It means the dealer principal seeing their whole business, inventory, pipeline, aftersales revenue, on a single screen, not ten spreadsheets. At Keyloop, that is exactly what we are enabling: systems that make the dealer faster, smarter, and more connected to their customer than they have ever been.

We have a sales-driven dealership model here. Do you think we will soon move towards a lifecycle or ownership-driven model?

Yes, and the smarter dealers in this region are already making that move. The question is not if, but how fast.

The traditional Gulf dealership model was built on volume, conquest, and the next sale. That worked when customers had fewer choices and lower expectations. Today, with more brands, more channels, and more informed buyers, holding on to a customer through the entire ownership journey, service, insurance, accessories, finance, trade-in, next vehicle, is far more valuable than winning them once and losing them to a competitor two years later.

The region also has some natural tailwinds. Vehicle ownership periods here are longer than many markets. Loyalty programmes are becoming more sophisticated. And OEMs are starting to push dealers toward customer lifetime value metrics, not just unit sales. The dealers who will lead the next decade are the ones who start treating the delivery of a car not as the end of the sale, but as the beginning of a relationship.

At Keyloop, our entire platform philosophy is built around that lifecycle view, giving dealers the tools to stay relevant and valuable to their customers long after the keys are handed over.

Fusion is positioned as an end-to-end platform. What was broken in the traditional dealership tech stack that required this kind of unified approach?

The old stack wasn’t one broken thing, it was five or six disconnected systems that were never designed to talk to each other.

If you walked into most dealerships in this region five years ago, you would find a DMS handling stock and invoicing, a separate CRM for sales leads, another tool for workshop job cards, a standalone finance and insurance module, and often a completely manual process for parts ordering. Each system had its own database, its own logic, its own version of the customer record. The result was that a dealer could sell a car, service it three times, and still not know the customer’s name when they called in.

◈ Fragmented customer identity: Sales, service, and finance held separate customer records with no unified view across departments.

◈ Data trapped in silos: Actionable insights sat locked inside individual systems, reporting required manual consolidation, often in spreadsheets.

◈ eInvoicing introduction: Every new tool added another point-to-point integration to maintain, creating fragility and escalating IT costs over time.

◈ Slow, error-prone workflows: Re-keying data between systems introduced errors and added minutes to every customer interaction, multiplied across thousands of transactions.

Keyloop Fusion was built to eliminate that entire class of problem. When sales, aftersales, parts, finance, and CRM all run on a single data model, the customer record becomes the source of truth that every team works from. A service advisor can see the customer’s purchase history. A sales executive can see their service loyalty. The dealer principal can see the whole business in one place. That is not a feature, it is a fundamentally different architecture that changes how a dealership operates.

For the Middle East specifically, this matters even more. Our dealership groups here are large, multi-brand, multi-site operations. The complexity they carry is enormous. A unified platform is not a nice-to-have for them, it is the only way they can scale without proportionally scaling their headcount and risk.

What kind of partnerships or ecosystem play is Keyloop looking to build here in the Middle East in 2026–2027?

We are building an open ecosystem, not a walled garden. The partnerships we are focused on fall into four areas that directly amplify what dealers and OEMs in this region need most.

Digital retail & mobility platforms: Connecting to regional marketplace and mobility platforms so dealers can manage online inventory, leads, and digital retailing from inside Fusion without channel switching.

AI and data intelligence partners: Working with analytics and AI providers to layer intelligence on top of Fusion’s data, predictive service reminders, demand forecasting, and customer churn signals.

OEM & manufacturer integration: Deeper real-time connectivity with OEMs on warranty claims, vehicle data, and campaign management, reducing friction between the factory and the showroom floor.

Financial services & insurance: Embedding regional finance and insurance providers, including multiple finance options, natively into the sales workflow, so F&I becomes seamless rather than a separate conversation.

Beyond technology, we are also investing in our implementation and consulting partner network in the region. The Middle East has some of the most ambitious dealership groups in the world. Groups that operate across the GCC, into Africa, and into South Asia. Supporting their scale requires a strong local partner ecosystem, not just a product.

The strategic intent is clear: Keyloop becomes the platform that other automotive technology companies want to connect to, not the system that sits in isolation. We want to be the operating system of the dealership, with a marketplace of capabilities around it. That is the direction for 2026 and into 2027, and the Middle East is a priority market for proving that model out.

By Rabih Haydar, Director of Partnerships EMEA, Autotech Ventures

Innovation is abundant across the global mobility landscape, but successful large-scale deployments are rare. Many markets remain stuck in pilot mode, testing promising technologies without the regulatory alignment, infrastructure readiness, or political will to move beyond experimentation. This is where the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stand apart. Here, mobility tech are not confined to trials or press releases; they are being rolled out across cities, transport networks, and logistics corridors with real users and real impact. The region isn’t just talking the talk; it also walks the walk.

The GCC’s governments have made mobility a strategic priority, tying it directly to economic diversification, sustainability, and competitiveness. This enables faster decision-making and coordinated execution. Additionally, large-scale urban developments and national transport strategies provide the canvas to deploy technologies from end to end, rather than in isolation. For example, Dubai’s Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy has set a target of having 25 percent of all trips autonomous by 2030, while Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to have 15 percent of public transport vehicles autonomous by that year. As a result, the GCC is shifting the global mobility narrative. Instead of focusing solely on where technology is invented, it calls attention to where it is implemented, integrated, and scaled decisively.

Governments as platform builders

In mobility, impact is not defined by how advanced a technology is, but by how widely and reliably it is deployed. Only by successfully transitioning from experimentation to execution can a mobility project unlock real outcomes: reduced congestion, lower emissions, improved logistics efficiency, and better quality of life. By focusing on scale, the region is accelerating learning cycles, driving costs down, and creating real-world operating environments that technologies simply cannot replicate in small pilots.

What truly differentiates the GCC in mobility deployment is the role governments play, not merely as regulators, but as platform builders. Across the region, national and city-level authorities are setting clear long-term mobility agendas and backing them with capital, infrastructure, and execution capacity. This infrastructure‑first approach means that charging networks, digital platforms, dedicated lanes, ports, and logistics zones are often built ahead of demand, dramatically reducing friction for deployment.

Equally important is regulatory intent. Rather than reacting to new technologies, policymakers are designing frameworks that anticipate them, using sandboxes, pilot-to-scale pathways, and public procurement to accelerate adoption. Governments also act as anchor customers, creating immediate demand for solutions in public transport, logistics, and urban services. Many startups struggle to secure these elsewhere.

This level of coordination allows mobility tech to be deployed system-wide instead of in isolation. The result is faster commercialization, clearer unit economics, and generation of real operational data at scale. In an industry where fragmentation often slows progress, the Middle East’s government-led platform model is emerging as a powerful catalyst for execution.

Global Technologies, Local Scale

The GCC is successfully deploying global mobility tech at scale, from electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous vehicles to drone logistics, while making room for competition to elevate the ecosystem.

Across the region, EV penetration doubled from roughly 2 percent to 4 percent between 2024 and 2025, making it among the world’s fastest-growing EV markets. The UAE leads the region with EV penetration of around 6 percent, while Saudi Arabia committed around $50 billion to EVs by 2030, including its homegrown EV brand, Ceer Motors. Chinese OEMs such as BYD, Geely, and MG have also rapidly captured market share in the region, rising from around 2 percent in 2019 to 15 percent in 2025. This influx of competitively priced, high-tech Chinese EVs, often adopting battery innovations and integrated software ecosystems, has accelerated regional electrification.

In Abu Dhabi, WeRide and Uber launched the Middle East’s first fully driverless Robotaxi service in November 2025, backed by the world’s first city-level permit for Level 4 autonomy. Operations are expanding to cover 70 percent of the city, with plans to deploy 1,200 robotaxis across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh by 2027.

Innovation in drone logistics is also abundant in the GCC. UAE urban and industrial pilots are using drones to transport parcels, documents, and even medium-range cargo via VTOL drones with capacities up to 250 kg, supported by unified airspace platforms.

Where Deployment Becomes Advantage

Taken together, the GCC’s approach to mobility is creating a new center of gravity for the industry, defined by execution at scale. For founders, the region is a unique place where technologies can move quickly from pilot to real-world deployment, supported by infrastructure, regulation, and committed demand. This shortens the path to validation, revenue, and global relevance.

For investors, the opportunity lies in engaging early in markets where scale is not a future aspiration but a design principle. Companies that can prove they can perform in the GCC’s complex, high-demand environments are more likely to be competitive globally. And for policymakers, the challenge and the opportunity both lie in sustaining this momentum by continuing to enable open ecosystems, talent inflow, and cross-border scalability.

The future of mobility will not be shaped solely in labs or boardrooms, but in the city’s roads, where technology is deployed decisively and system-wide. Through the large-scale rollout of these technologies, driven by government infrastructure, regulatory foresight, and private-sector innovation, the GCC is going beyond just adopting global mobility tech and is now shaping it.