28 January 2012
Ford awards Philippines's Top Dealers of 2011
Ford Group Philippines (FGP) recently hosted its annual Ford Dealer Convention to recognize the achievements of its dealers and partners in 2011, which helped them post an all-time record sales year. Recording sales of 9,778 units and a 48% growth, Ford became the country's fastest growing car brand last year. And after all the numbers were in, Ford Alabang took top honors as Ford's “2011 Dealer of the Year.”"Ford had a record year in the Philippines and the unwavering commitment and dedication of our nationwide Ford dealer network played the key role in our shared success,” said Ford Groud Philippines President Randy Krieger.
Published in
Industry Update
27 January 2012
NASCAR: Ford pips all-new 2013 Fusion for life on the fast lane
Words by Ken Tamayo | Photos courtesy of the Ford Motor Company
The latest machineries on the NASCAR circuit have traded looks for outright aerodynamic performance. And besides those stickers representing faux headlights and grills, there's hardly any way to tell these cars apart as they whiz around an oval at over 200 mph (300 km/h). Thus, for the 2013 season, Ford is taking a totally different approach for its next title contender.
Forgoing the modern cookie cutter body shell, the blue oval brand is bringing back the essence of “stock car racing” in favor of a sleeker and more identifiable silhouette. After a bit of sculpting and wind tunnel testing, their new Sprint Cup car now more or less resembles the all-new 2013 Fusion, which was launched at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.
Published in
Motorsports
Words by Christopher Kho | Photos courtesy of Toyota Motorsport GmbH
Succeeding the iconic TS010 and TS020 race cars that competed in the 90's, Toyota is finally marking its return to the Circuit de la Sarthe in 2012 with the TS030 Hybrid. Developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), the same people behind the Panasonic Toyota Formula 1 team, the TS030 will be the first hybrid entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship after Peugeot announced their immediate withdrawal from competition last week. This means that it will all be up to the Japanese team to challenge Audi's dominance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Published in
Motorsports
Words by Christopher Kho
One would remember that just a few years ago, GM was in deep water and needed to file for bankruptcy protection in 2009 just to survive. But all that has changed after selling 9,025,942 vehicles in 2011, putting GM back as the world's largest automaker - a title it lost in 2007 to Toyota. And helping the company on its way to the top is the Chevrolet Cruze, which sold more than 670,000 examples globally last year and accounting to more than 1.13 million sold since the model was launched in 2009.
GM's subsidiary, Chevrolet, also posted its best global sales record with 4.76 million vehicles sold, driven by the strong performance of cars such as the Spark, Sonic (Aveo), Malibu, Orlando, and Colorado. Topping the bow-tie brand's chart is the U.S. with total vehicle sales reaching 1,775,812 - a 13% increase from 2010 - while China's fast-growing market is catching up with 595,068 units. Other significant year-over-year increases include Vietnam (79%), Russia (49%), Turkey (30%), and Germany (21%).
Published in
Industry Update
26 January 2012
You park like an &*#^$@: Bad parkers beware!
Words by Leslie Sy
Don't you just hate it when you finally find a parking slot on the street or in a mall, you discover that you can't fit your car in because the car beside it is parked badly? What's more frustrating is that you can't teach its driver how to park properly without potentially getting into a heated argument and then some. Well, you should be glad to know that there are now websites out there so that you could teach these bad parkers a lesson or two.
In the online-dependent world we live in today, the internet once again comes to the rescue with websites such as www.youparklikeanasshole.com. The site offers downloadable notice forms or stickers for you to place on the offending cars’ windshields to teach their drivers a lesson. You can even specify the violation, whether it's parked over the painted lines, parked over two spots, or fraudulently parked in spaces reserved for handicaps, so that the parking delinquent can look up the site, find out what he or she has done wrong, and learn how to properly park their cars.
Published in
Features
For the 9th year running, the Asian Carmakers Corporation (ACC), BMW's official importer and distributor in the Philippines, continues its reign as the country's leading luxury automotive brand. After posting a 19% increase for 2011 with 792 units sold, ACC now holds 33% of the segment's share. And to extend their advantage even further, BMW will be introducing the all-new 3 Series and 7 Series in 2012. With a solid performance from the 1, 5, 7, and X Series, December recorded the second-highest monthly performance for ACC in 2011 with a 95% growth over the same month in 2010. The newly-launched second generation BMW 1 Series dominated the premium compact car category with a year-to-date sales of 147 units, which equates to about 54% of the market. It's big brother the 5 Series, on the other hand, performed exceptionally well with a 67% year-to-date increase, while the flagship 7 Series continues to be top dog in the full-size luxury turf with an 11% sales growth. And standing on higher ground, the X Series family proved yet again to the best-selling premium SUV with 218 units sold in 2011, taking 33% of the market share with it.
Published in
Industry Update
The largest automotive brand in the country has done it again when Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) scored its 10th consecutive Triple Crown. And in spite of a 4% drop in sales last year as compared to 2010, TMP maintains its 38.5% share of the local car market, which makes it the No.1 in the Passenger Car (PC), Commercial Vehicle (CV), and Overall Vehicle sales. The best part is, Toyota's raffling off 10 of their best-selling vehicles to celebrate.
Staying on top for 10 successive years is no easy feat, but Toyota surely made it look simple. The Japanese automaker sold 54,593 units in 2011 alone, which roughly translates to 150 cars rolling off its dealerships each day.
Published in
Industry Update
25 January 2012
Living in style with Hyundai
Words by Jade Lu
Hyundai certainly gave their pampered patrons a taste of the good life at the “One Hyundai Club: Life in Style” event last January 14, 2012 at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati. It was a fair of fashion, style, food, and wellness and a celebration of being a proud Hyundai owner.
The festivities included food tasting, a candy buffet, a fashion show, on-the-spot makeovers, and wall climbing, just to name a few. But if those weren’t enough to rouse the crowd, Hyundai raffled off prizes by the hour. And to make thing even better, the grand prizes of a trip for two to South Korea and a Special Edition i10 were up for grabs in the raffle. The event also highlighted the launch of the special One Hyundai Club Life in Style 2012 Journal, which not only features chronicles by renowned journalists and editors but also serves as a log for the experiences that a One Hyundai Club (OHC) member would expect.
Published in
News
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