In the rapidly evolving Gulf mobility landscape, traditional car ownership is being re-examined as consumers balance status, cost, and convenience against a backdrop of shifting economic realities.

As modern mobility solutions gain traction, particularly car subscription services, Gulf residents face a compelling choice: continue investing in depreciating assets or pivot to flexible, all-inclusive mobility options.

For decades, owning a car in the Gulf has signified independence and prestige. Yet beneath the glossy surface of vehicle ownership lie substantial hidden costs that can undermine its allure:

• Depreciation: A new car’s value can drop to 60 per cent of the financial value in three years, rapidly eroding its financial worth.
• Loan payments and interest: Many Gulf buyers finance their vehicles through loans carrying annual interest rates between 2 per cent and 5 per cent. Over a standard five-year term, these costs can significantly exceed the vehicle’s purchase price.
• Insurance and registration: Mandatory comprehensive insurance can range from 6 to 8 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, while additional expenses like registration fees, road tolls, and parking costs further inflate the total cost.
• Maintenance and repairs: Routine servicing, unexpected repairs, and the replacement of worn components can add thousands of dirhams annually.
• Fuel costs: Although Gulf fuel prices remain relatively low, they still contribute notably to the total expense, especially for drivers with long commutes.

Why the car subscription model is appealing

Car subscription models are emerging as a viable alternative, particularly appealing to expatriates and young professionals. These services consolidate many of the costs and headaches associated with car ownership into a single, predictable monthly fee.

Car subscription services offer a host of advantages that make them an attractive alternative to traditional car ownership. For instance, there is no need for a down payment, which contrasts with the typical 20 per cent upfront cost required for a new car in the UAE, allowing consumers to access vehicles without a significant initial investment.

Additionally, the all-inclusive pricing model covers insurance, maintenance, and registration, thereby reducing unexpected expenditures and simplifying budgeting.

This model also provides exceptional flexibility, enabling subscribers to switch vehicles based on changing lifestyle needs — whether upgrading for a business trip or opting for a more economical option when desired.

Moreover, with month-to-month or short-term contracts, consumers can avoid the lengthy financial commitments associated with traditional car loans, while the hassle-free nature of the service eliminates the stress of dealing with servicing, paperwork, or resale issues, perfectly aligning with the demands of a fast-paced, modern lifestyle.

Suited for certain consumer segments

While the car subscription model is not a one-size-fits-all solution, it is particularly well-suited for certain consumer segments. Expats and short-term residents benefit by avoiding the need to tie up capital in a depreciating asset. Young professionals appreciate the financial agility offered without long-term commitments, while those who frequently switch vehicles to suit their evolving needs find the flexibility invaluable.

Additionally, cost-conscious drivers who seek predictable expenses without the surprise costs inherent in traditional car ownership also stand to gain significantly from this model.

Urbanisation, digital transformation, and a global shift toward sustainability are redefining how Gulf consumers view mobility. With a growing interest in experience-based consumption over asset accumulation, the car subscription model is poised for further growth.

Additionally, as electric vehicles (EVs) gain popularity, subscriptions could serve as a gateway for consumers eager to embrace greener technology without committing to high upfront costs.

Ultimately, the decision between buying a car and subscribing to one depends on an individual’s financial goals, lifestyle needs, and usage patterns. For those prioritising flexibility and cost predictability, the subscription model offers a modern, stress-free alternative.

Conversely, for high-mileage drivers or long-term asset investors, traditional car ownership may still hold its value.

In an era of increasing mobility choices, Gulf consumers are empowered to align their transportation decisions with both convenience and financial prudence. As the market continues to evolve, staying informed and critically assessing one’s personal needs will be key to navigating the road ahead.

The author is the CEO and founder of SelfDrive Mobility.

In a world that glorifies hustle and long hours, sleep often takes a backseat — especially in fast-paced regions like the UAE, where 40 per cent of residents don’t get enough rest. But according to Dr Elie Abirached, a longevity expert, quality sleep is not just a “luxury” — it’s the foundation of good health, performance and longevity.

From the impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive function to cutting-edge sleep technology that optimises recovery, Dr Abirached — the ambassador for Eight Sleep, a ‘SleepFitness’ company — delves into the science of sleep and shares practical strategies to help people achieve deeper, more restorative rest.

Studies indicate that 40 per cent of UAE residents don’t get enough sleep. What are the primary consequences of sleep deprivation on physical and mental health?

Sleep deprivation is more than just feeling tired, it’s a full-body stressor. Lack of sleep disrupts immune function, hormonal balance, metabolism, and emotional regulation. Over time, this leads to chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, weight gain, and increased vulnerability to anxiety and depression. It also compromises the body’s ability to repair, detoxify, and restore itself.

Can you explain how poor sleep quality affects daily productivity and cognitive function?

When sleep is compromised, cognitive performance crashes. You think slower, make more mistakes, and lose focus more quickly. Poor sleep impacts working memory, reaction time, and decision-making, the core skills needed for high performance in business and daily life. It also makes people more emotionally reactive and less able to handle stress, directly impacting leadership and creative thinking.

How does sleep contribute to long-term health and longevity?

Sleep is when the body performs essential “maintenance”: cellular repair, hormone production, and brain detoxification via the glymphatic system (brain’s waste removal system).

Chronic sleep loss is directly linked to accelerated aging, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disorders.

In other words, good sleep is anti-ageing, one of the most powerful longevity tools we have.

Stress and temperature disturbances are cited as major factors affecting sleep in the UAE. What are some other common causes of poor sleep?

Other causes of poor sleep include high evening stimulation (heavy meals, intense training late at night), erratic work schedules, caffeine dependence, and social jet lag from late nights on weekends.

Noise pollution, light pollution from urban environments, and poor bedroom environments (for example, wrong mattress, wrong temperature) also play a big role.

How does irregular scheduling impact overall health and sleep patterns?

The body runs on an internal clock, our circadian rhythm, which thrives on regularity. When we constantly shift sleep and wake times, we confuse that clock, leading to chronic jet lag-like symptoms: low energy, hormonal disruption (including cortisol and melatonin), and weakened immunity.

Irregular sleep patterns also diminish deep sleep, impacting recovery and cognitive sharpness.

What role does technology (for example, blue light exposure from screens) play in sleep disruptions?

Technology is a double-edged sword. Blue light from phones, laptops, and TVs at night trick the brain into thinking it’s daytime, suppressing melatonin and delaying sleep onset. But it’s not just about light, endless scrolling and mental stimulation (from emails, news, and social media) keep the brain wired when it should be winding down.

What are some effective strategies to improve sleep quality and duration?

Forget gimmicks, consistency and environment win every time. Create a wind-down routine that signals your body it’s time to sleep. Think calm lighting, low stimulation, and physical cues like stretching or breathing exercises. You can use red light bulbs in the bedroom which automatically block all blue light too.

Keep your sleep environment optimised: comfortable mattress, blackout curtains, and noise control. And yes, avoid stimulants and high-stress activities close to bedtime. Finally, if you travel a lot or work night shifts, anchoring your circadian rhythm with morning sunlight exposure can make a massive difference.

How does maintaining an optimal sleep temperature help?

Our body’s core temperature naturally drops at night to initiate deep sleep. If the room is too warm, it interferes with this natural process, fragmenting sleep and reducing time in restorative stages.

In hot climates like the UAE, controlling the bedroom temperature can help or you can use cooling sleep technology like Eight Sleep to dramatically improve sleep depth and quality.

Share insights on the best bedtime routines and habits.

Think of bedtime as a transition period, not an on-off switch. The most effective routines lower stress, reduce stimulation, and engage the body’s natural wind-down processes. For some, it’s breathwork or light stretching, for others, reading fiction or listening to calming music.

The key is repetition — doing the same ritual every night creates a strong brain-body association with sleep.

Can innovations in technology help people achieve deeper sleep and faster recovery?

Absolutely. Smart temperature-regulating beds adjust cooling and heating to align with your natural sleep phases — ideal for optimising sleep in the UAE’s climate.

Other tools, like red light panels to promote melatonin production, and advanced sleep trackers, help personalise recovery strategies. When used properly, technology can enhance, not harm, sleep quality.

The MENA region has set a new benchmark forbespoke value. Could you share some of the most notable or unique bespoke commissions from 2024, and how these commissions reflect the region’s growing demand for personalised luxury?

The Middle East remains a very important market for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, particularly in the realm of bespoke. Every motor car serves as a blank canvas for an owner’s unique vision and in 2024 we were once again inspired by the creativity and ambition of our clients.

This growing appetite for highly personalised luxury has propelled the region to lead globally in average bespoke value per motor car.

Notable commissions from the year reflect the region’s evolving tastes, blending artistic expression, cultural heritage, and intricate design inspired by unique collaborations in our new showrooms in the region and Private Office in Dubai.

Some examples:

• ‘Couture Phantom’ demonstrates the region’s appreciation for detailed artistry and elegance. It features a delicate lace-inspired embroidered gallery, a Bespoke interior finished in Sunrise and Grace White leather, and a striking two-tone exterior in Crystal over Palais Nemaskar Dawn and Crystal over Arctic White, creating a visually captivating presence.
• ‘Rose Spectre’ reflects a deep connection to nature-inspired beauty. This commission features intricate rose embroidery on the headrests and rear waterfall, achieved through an advanced 3D embroidery technique blending multiple yarns. Personalised airbrush artwork enhances this creation, highlighting the dedication to craftsmanship that is central to Bespoke.
• A specially commissioned Phantom celebrates a client’s milestone 50th birthday, blending deeply personal elements with artistic innovation. The client’s initials are featured in the hand-painted Coachline, treadplates, and headrests, while the Bespoke Starlight Headliner recreates the exact constellation present at the time and place of their birth — a powerful symbol of legacy and personal storytelling.

These commissions exemplify the region’s demand for luxury that tells a story.

Clients seek creations that embody their values and aspirations, while Rolls-Royce continues to transform their dreams into masterpieces through the expertise of the Bespoke Collective at Goodwood.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars opened four new showrooms in the region in 2024, including in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Bahrain. How do these new showrooms enhance the Rolls-Royce experience for clients, and what unique features do they offer to appeal to younger, self-made clientele?

The recently opened new showrooms across the region are designed to enhance the client experience and reflect the brand’s evolution into a true “House of Luxury”. These spaces embody the marque’s latest visual identity, blending timeless sophistication with innovative digital technologies and elegant interior design to create a comfortable, discreet, and contemporary environment.

At the heart of these showrooms is The Bespoke Commissioning Atelier, which elevates the commissioning journey by immersing clients in Rolls-Royce craftsmanship. Clients can explore an extensive range of bespoke materials — surface finishes, wood veneers, leathers, fabrics, and embroidery threads — all tailored to their personalities and aspirations. This tactile, sensory experience allows them to see and feel how their dream motor car will come to life.

The experience is further enhanced by the Cabinet of Curiosities, a curated collection of objects designed to spark inspiration. Additionally, the hospitality lounge offers a secluded space for clients to relax and socialise, ensuring a comfortable and exclusive atmosphere.

These thoughtfully designed showrooms reflect the growing demand for bespoke luxury in the region. By offering an immersive and technologically advanced environment, Rolls-Royce caters to younger, self-made clients seeking highly personalised luxury.

Through this blend of innovation and timeless craftsmanship, each client embarks on a journey where their most ambitious visions become reality.

The opening of the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Private Office in Dubai has been pivotal. Can you describe the role of the Private Office in transforming the bespoke experience for clients, and how does it differ from traditional showroom offerings?

The opening of the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Private Office in Dubai represents a transformative moment for the bespoke experience, bringing Goodwood, Home of Rolls-Royce, closer to clients across the region.

This is not a dealership but a highly personalised invite-only space designed to deepen the relationship between Rolls-Royce and its clients, offering exclusive access to the craftsmanship and creativity synonymous with the marque.

As an extension of the home of Rolls-Royce, the Private Office provides an elevated, bespoke experience. It features the first permanently stationed bespoke lead designer and bespoke client experience manager outside Goodwood, enabling clients to collaborate directly with experts throughout their commissioning journey.

The Private Office Dubai redefines the bespoke experience with a discreet, sophisticated environment where visions come to life with meticulous attention to detail. It reinforces Rolls-Royce’s presence in one of its most significant markets and underscores the marque’s commitment to delivering the pinnacle of personalised luxury. The space integrates both physical and digital tools to enhance the process.

Clients can explore bespoke materials, while advanced technology offers real-time access to Goodwood engineers and craftspeople, allowing them to witness key moments in their motor car’s creation.

This marks the largest investment in Goodwood since its opening in 2003, driven by rising global demand for bespoke and coachbuild commissions. It holds particular importance for the Middle East, a region leading the world in average Bespoke value per motor car. For clients here — who continually seek sophisticated, intricate, and highly personalised designs — this investment ensures Rolls-Royce Motor Cars can continue to exceed expectations through enhanced craftsmanship and innovation.

In 2024, the Middle East and Africa region achieved a landmark year for bespoke commissions, reaffirming its pivotal role in Rolls-Royce’s success. To support this demand, the expanded Goodwood facilities will provide the Bespoke Collective — our expert team of designers, engineers, and craftspeople — with the resources and space to realise ever more ambitious and intricate creations.

This investment underscores Rolls-Royce’s commitment to its Middle Eastern clients, whose creativity and ambition inspire the marque.

The past year has been a record-breaking one for sales in the Middle East and Africa, with notable demand for models like the Spectre, Cullinan Series II, and Phantom. What trends do you see shaping the luxury automotive market in this region in the coming years, and how is Rolls-Royce Motor Cars adapting to these evolving client preferences?

This surge underscores key trends shaping the region’s luxury automotive market, particularly the growing demand for highly personalised motor cars. Clients increasingly view Bespoke features as meaningful expressions of their identity, creativity, and heritage — a trend expected to drive the market in the coming years.

A notable shift is the rise of younger, self-made clients who seek modern luxury through innovative design and exclusive personalisation. For them, the commissioning process is a creative journey – an opportunity to craft a masterpiece that reflects their personal story and ambitions.

In response, the significance of expanding the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood equips the Bespoke Collective to deliver increasingly complex and ambitious commissions, ensuring clients continue to immerse themselves in the world of Rolls-Royce.

Our digital dialogue is also enhancing client engagement. Our invitation-only Whispers app, which saw a 55 per cent increase in membership globally in 2024, provides clients with exclusive access to insights, networking opportunities, and direct communication with senior executives. This deepens the relationship between Rolls-Royce and clients who value both immersive physical experiences and curated digital services.

As demand for bespoke increases and high-value luxury experiences continue to grow, Rolls-Royce is uniquely positioned to lead. Through expanded bespoke capabilities, immersive showrooms, and personalised client services, we offer unparalleled opportunities for clients across the region to realise their most ambitious visions.

Tell us about the company’s strategy around electric vehicles and sustainability.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is mindful of everything we do — from our unparalleled design, craftsmanship and attention to detail, to our relationships with clients, employees, suppliers and local communities; we strive to reduce the environmental impacts of our design, engineering and manufacturing processes.

Our journey towards the electrification of our product range began with the launch of Spectre in 2023. It has proven that electric drive is perfectly suited to Rolls-Royce: our clients confirm that Spectre’s specially engineered electric drivetrain amplifies the attributes we are most famous for — silence, waftability, effortless power and the world-famous ‘magic carpet ride’.

We recognise that consumer demand for electric vehicles has changed within the automotive sector, but Rolls-Royce is a luxury house and therefore insulated from the mass-market trends.

As a client-led organisation we will continue to monitor the feedback from our clients. However, our electrification strategy has not changed. It is evident that electrification perfectly suits our brand and that is our clear direction of travel. Sales of Spectre show this clearly: in 2024, Spectre was the second best-selling model globally.

The operator of the Indian capital’s international airport, majority owned by GMR Airports, is suing the government for allowing commercial flights from a nearby defence aerodrome, legal papers show in a case to be heard on Monday.

The airport is one of India’s busiest, with about 73.6 million passengers using it last year, though it made a loss of $21m because of higher government fees. In contrast, by Sunday, the number of airbase users was about 1,400.

Read-Here’s how Dubai stacks up among world’s busiest airports

The Delhi airport will become “economically and financially unviable,” after the government permitted commercial flights from the defence airbase in Ghaziabad, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in the March 10 lawsuit.

In the suit, which Reuters is the first to report, DIAL told the Delhi High Court the government breached aviation rules barring a new airport within an aerial distance of 150 km (90 miles) of an existing one, unless there is passenger demand.

The state-run Airports Authority of India also has a stake in DIAL. India’s civil aviation ministry did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

DIAL seeks to overturn the government’s decision, and cites media reports for its contention that flights by Air India Express began operating in March from the Hindon Airforce Station, about 30 km (19 miles) from the Delhi airport.DIAL is represented by Trilegal, a law firm based in India.

Worker remittances from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries totalled $131.5bn in 2023, marking a slight decline of 0.4 per cent from the previous year, according to recent data released by the GCC Statistical Centre (GCC-Stat).

Despite the marginal dip of approximately $500m compared to 2022, the GCC remains the largest source of worker remittances globally, followed by the US.

The slowdown follows consecutive years of growth, with remittance inflows rising by 9.2 per centin 2021 and 3.8 per cent in 2022.

Remittances’ share in GCC GDP dropping in recent years, shows data

The data also showed that remittances as a share of the GCC’s gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices have declined in recent years, falling from 8.1 per ent in 2020 to 6 per cent in 2022.

However, the trend reversed slightly in 2023, with remittances accounting for 6.2 per cent of GDP.

Remittances from the GCC are a vital source of income for many developing economies, particularly in South Asia and the Philippines, where millions of expatriates are employed across key sectors such as construction, retail, and domestic services.

GCC labour force and workforce policies

In other news, data issued by GCC-Stat revealed that the total labour force in GCC countries reached 31.8 million, representing 54.2 per cent of the total population.

Male workers accounted for 78.7 per cent, while females made up 17.6 per cent.

The number of working citizens in the GCC stood at 5.6 million, constituting 23.4 per cent of the total labour force, with 60 per cent males and 40 per cent females.

GCC-Stat’s data also showed a 600,000 increase in the number of working women in the region since 2011.

The data indicated that the government sector is still the largest employer of Gulf workers, with a wide scope for localisation in the private sector.

The percentage of employed citizens working in the public sector reached 83.5 percent compared to 14.2 percent in the private sector.

Statistics also revealed that GCC countries’ citizens work mainly in the services sector, particularly in public administration activities.

GCC countries have introduced policies to localise the workforce, such as the GCC Common Market and the Comprehensive Development Strategy, which aim to address imbalances in population structure, workforce distribution, and industrial development.

These policies aim to increase the national workforce’s contribution to the industrial sector.

Additionally, the population strategy seeks to enhance the role of women in development, balance population and workforce structures, and improve national workforce training programmes.

All GCC countries give priority to young workers, promote economic diversification efforts and move towards creating green and environmentally friendly jobs.

Read: GCC to outpace the global economy in 2025: FAB