June 2021 23 www.bahrainthismonth.com HERE ARE YOUR CHAMPIONS! Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) hosted the fifth and final round of the Bahrain Rotax Max Challenge (BRMC) 2021 over the weekend, and the newest series of champions emerged at BIC’s world-class karting track. Taking impressive victories in the season-finale were Fahad Alkhaled in the Senior Max class, Fahad Almuqla in the Junior Max category, Luca Houghton in the Mini Max and Shaikh Rashid bin Salman Al Khalifa in the Micro Max. All four winners were also crowned the season’s champions in their respective divisions. Amongst the season’s title-winning Entrants, Forza Bahrain Racing were winners in the Senior Max category, BirelArt Bahrain in the Junior Max and Mini Max, and Praga ME in the Micro Max. The BRMC was part of this year’s Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship. All the action in the season-finale took place along the 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track of Bahrain International Karting Circuit. The 2021 championship-finale was run with strict health protection measures in place, in line with government regulations and guidance. REPORTING A SURGE As PEUGEOT continues to buck the automotive industry with its strong comeback into the GCC, the French automaker announced positive sales results in its first quarter. Buoyed by a successful performance to the fourth quarter in 2020, recent figures released by PEUGEOT indicate an increase of 210 percent and 420 percent for its passenger and light commercial vehicle (LCV) segments respectively. During Q1 of 2021, PEUGEOT expanded its operations in key markets such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, growing its customer base and resulting in a significant increase in sales. Its passenger vehicle sales more than tripled, with products such as the 3008 SUV and 5008 SUV driving growth by 173 percent and 254 percent respectively and the 508 increasing by 270 percent. With the onset of COVID-19, Peugeot struck key deals with Noon, Amazon and DHL to support the rise of E-commerce. In addition, the brand prioritised the production of LCVs like the Partner, which accounted for a significant proportion of new vehicles in the GCC, to support deliveries and distribution networks. This resulted in the brand’s LCV segment performing strongly with sales up by 420 percent. IN THE MILLIONS Lexus has announced that the luxury brand eclipsed the milestone of 2 million global sales of electrified vehicles at the end of April 2021. Since the launch of the RX400h in 2005, Lexus has been a pioneer of electrification in the luxury market, and the models have continued to evolve on the mission of balancing excellent driving performance with environmental sensitivity. Based on a philosophy of “right time, right product, right place”, Lexus hopes to further develop its electrified product portfolio to best respond to a varied range of energy sources and infrastructure environments encountered around the world. As a result, Lexus now sells nine models of electrified vehicles, including Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), in approximately 90 countries and regions around the world. In 2020, 33% of the Lexus models sold globally were of the electrified variety. Since 2005, Lexus electrified vehicles have contributed to a cumulative reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 19 million tons. This reduction is equivalent to the combined CO2 output of approximately 300,000 passenger cars each year for the past 15 years. Lexus will continue to lead the steady growth of electrified vehicles and the reduction of CO2 emissions in line with our corporate mission of carbon neutrality and Sustainable Development Goals. motoring news
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