Dubai: Aspiring drivers can now take their driving lessons on luxury vehicles such as a Range Rover and a Mercedes G500, as part of the Emirates Driving Institute’s (EDI) platinum course.
Launched with two vehicles, a Range Rover Voque and Mercedes G500, together worth around Dh1 million, the course has already generated a lot of interest.
Speaking to Gulf News following the launch of the course at the EDI’s head office, Ahmad Hashim Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency, said there is a lot of demand for this service, which serves learners from a particular segment of the society, who would eventually go on to drive luxury cars.
“I have felt the need for such a service for sometime now because many youngsters go on to drive big luxury and sports cars immediately after obtaining the licence but in reality they are not ready to handle the powerful cars because they are trained in smaller cars. This course actually prepares them to drive big luxury cars right from the outset,” said Behroozian.
He added that the course gives greater focus to the luxury and convenience of the trainees, but it doesn’t in anyway compromise on the quality of training. “Just because we make certain formalities easier for the trainees doesn’t mean we will make the training easy; we have made sure that the compliance with the regulations is absolute. There is no chance of the applicants passing until they are safe and skillful drivers,” added Behroozian.
Available at a cost of Dh30,000, covering all expenses until the learners get the driving licence, the package includes registration, eye test, unlimited number of classes and any number of road tests required.
According to Amer Belhasa, managing director of EDI, the response to the service is already good, with several people already joining the course.
“The demand for the platinum course is more than expected and (we) are already planning to add more vehicles to the fleet. I got this idea more than five years ago when I saw that a lot of young people who get their driving licence are not ready to handle big cars and many of them had to undergo advanced training. We are happy that we are the first to provide this specialised service,” said Belhasa.
The luxury package will also include pickup and drop-off on the same vehicles from any location in Dubai.
The VIP treatment doesn’t begin or end with the luxury cars only, rather it begins with registration and ends with the road test, all conducted on a priority basis, without making the applicants wait on long queues to complete the formalities.
“We designed this package keeping in mind a section of the society who like to be treated well and who are willing to pay the cost. The package takes care of all needs of the applicants in an exclusive manner — right from registration till the road test. We are even ready to conduct the road tests at locations that the applicants are familiar with,” said Alain Nawfal, chief commercial officer at EDI.
To begin with, the course is supported by two luxury SUVs and in the next phase luxury sports cars will be added to the fleet.
On an average, obtaining a driving licence in Dubai costs anywhere between Dh5,000 and Dh6,000, depending on the number of classes one requires and the number of attempts one needs to pass the road test.
