Forget tailor-made suits. Why not pick up a tailor-made car or a trendy dune buggy?
Affluent motorists in the Gulf are now going to extraordinary lengths to customise their vehicles - and boutique car makers aim to cash in on the craze.
This no longer means the occasional paint job and independent airconditioning controls for both driver and passengers.
One company, for example, uses special military-grade bolts to hold a dune-buggy's frame together.
Another slips a photo album into the glove compartment of its off-roaders to give drivers a keepsake that documents the construction of that particular model.
Some desert racers also sport an electric port in the rear to power a mini-fridge. After all, what driver, who is prepared to shell out upwards of £130,000 (Dh780,274) for a new model, wants to race through the sand holding a warm soft drink or soggy sandwich?
"There are some vehicles you wouldn't think are from this world," says Biju Jayaraaj, the chief executive of Artaaj, the events company behind last week's Big Boys Toys exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where some of these new cars and vehicles were on display.
This push to further personalise products comes at a time when growth in the broader luxury retail market is expected to slow to between 4 and 5 per cent this year, down from a 10 per cent increase last year.
While emerging countries are still leading the way in the €168 billion (Dh778.79bn) luxury market, the Middle East is entering a "new reality" where sales are projected to remain below the record levels seen prior to 2008, according to the consulting firm Bain & Company.
Part of the reason for the slowdown in such sales, reports Bain, is the flood of luxury goods. That is why more companies, including some vehicle manufacturers, are looking to stand out from their competitors with personalised models.
A luxury recreational vehicle from Dunkel Industries, for instance, features a rear end big enough to carry a full-sized off-roader, plus a pair of dune bikes. It took three years to design and develop and costs US$500,000 (Dh1.8 million).
Then there is the new Wildcat, an off-roader that debuted in the Gulf for the first time last week. Each model is hand-built in a workshop over 12 to 14 weeks.
This tough terrain vehicle also boasts amenities more commonly found in luxury saloons: Bluetooth connectivity, an iPod dock and a power port for a mini-fridge, as well as a leather interior and moulding finishes.
The total cost? From £65,000 to more than £130,000, depending on the specifications.
"Every client is able to [have a Wildcat] tailor-made to their own requirements," says Dave Marsh, the managing director of Qt, which manufactures the vehicle.
"Throughout the overall process, the clients are assigned one of our engineers, who deals with them personally with regular updates. It's a very personal service we offer."
But while companies are racing to customise vehicles, it is still unclear whether sales will take off.
Mr Marsh contends there is a market for vehicles such as the Wildcat, particularly from customers in surrounding countries such as Saudi Arabia. But while inquiries for Qt's latest vehicles have "certainly increased", other industry insiders are more cautious about this specialised market.
"If the economy turns around, people will start spending money," says John Lehmen of the US-based company Lehmen Race Cars Off-Road Engineering.
Mr Lehmen's company, which creates tailor-made, off-road recreational vehicles, entered the Gulf three years ago and has a maintenance shop in Dubai for customers.
So far, he has sold only six vehicles in the region, but business has still been good as his models cost from $140,000 to $500,000, and take up to two years to build after being designed with 3D software.
The costs, of course, are also high because the company uses high-quality materials that can be found in aircraft.
To illustrate the point, the military-grade bolts that the company fits into its vehicles cost $42 each compared with $1.50 for standard bolts in off-roading vehicles.
When he originally pushed into the Gulf, Mr Lehmen had plans to grow beyond Dubai, but any expansion has been put on hold for now.
"I think the market in the next two to three years will start getting better," he says.
Many within the industry say demand is already growing. Mr Jayaraaj says some boutique car makers were receiving calls from customers who were interested in buying certain new models before they were even shown to the public at last week's exhibition.
And Sijatec, a high-tech company based in Germany, chose Abu Dhabi as the place to premiere its LiveRacer.
"We think [the UAE] is the right place to be for this," says Vincent Gressieker, who heads international sales and communication for Sijatec.
nparmar@thenational.ae
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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20101hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20135Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Six-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh79%2C900%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”