How the heck to they do it? Seriously?! Ever since the year started, Ford Philippines has been putting down record-breaking sales one month after the other. And last April 2013, overall sales reached 1,101 vehicles which is a 63% year-over-year jump from 2012, making it Ford's best-ever April performance in the Philippines. With a growth this big and this consistent, their competitors must feel jealous, if not threatened.
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Industry Update
09 May 2013
Point and Shoot | 2012 Toyota 86 TRD AT
Words by Ferman Lao | Photos by Christopher Kho
In 2012, we got the opportunity to field test one of the latest quintessential sports car, the Toyota 86.
It bears one of the most attractive modern interpretations of the classic sports car silhouette - a svelte low hood and roof line, steeply-raked windscreen, two doors, two seats (we don't consider the rear vestigial seats to be real), and a sweeping short rear end. Its character lines show the level of attention to detail that the designers put into the 86. One such example are the indents on the hood that wrap around the Toyota emblem and flow all the way to the roof. Not only does it look good, but also have an aerodynamic function. This is an indication that the engineers have been given free reign too.
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Sportscar
These guys are really on a roll. Less than a month after the groundbreaking of Honda Cars Greenhills and the newly-transferred Honda Cars Cebu, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) is at it again. This time, they're opening a brand new dealership in Laguna.
Honda Cars Calamba will soon rise along Maharlika Highway, Brgy. Milagrosa, Calamba City. It's strategically located to be more accessible to customers going or coming from the city proper and nearby towns. Sitting on a 3,000 sq. meter land area, it will feature a showroom with Honda's product line-up. Honda Cars Calamba will also offer complete vehicle service facilities such as general repair, preventive maintenance, and body-and-paint.
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Industry Update
Words by Leslie Sy
Metro Manila's traffic congestion has been a problem for everyone in the region for at least the last two or three decades. The major highways that connect its 16 cities turn into parking lots as vehicles come to a virtual standstill during the morning and evening rush hours. In a bid to help alleviate this problem, President Benigno Aquino III proposed in late 2010 a driverless, fully-automated guideway transit system simply known as the Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) to improve public transport and hopefully, lessen cars on the road. But is it really the answer to Metro Manila's traffic problem?
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Editorials
There's no denying that Porsche makes very beautiful, elegant, and powerful super cars. And whoever will represent the brand must have the same qualities, or better. So it's a no-brainer why Porsche AG chose the lovely 26-year-old professional tennis player Maria Sharapova as their new brand ambassador.
Currently ranked as the world's no. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), not only is Sharapova one of the highest paid female athletes in the world, but she could also be the sexiest (Google photos of Maria Sharapova if you don't know what I mean). Again, you see why she's the perfect match for Porsche? Not even her Russian descent or 6' 2” stature mattered to the Germans.
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Industry Update
Words by Christopher Kho | Photos courtesy of the Volvo Car Corporation
It was way back in December of 2012 when we first got word from Viking Cars Inc., the official Philippine distributor of Volvo cars, that the all-new V40 was indeed coming to the Philippines. They said that their most modern five-door five-seater should be here by the “first quarter of 2013.” Well, it's finally here and promises to be “a modern expressive car, with characteristics from larger Volvos wrapped in a sleek, compact package.”
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Newly Launched
Effective June 1, 2013, New Zealander Kay Hart will take her new role as Ford Philippines' Managing Director. That's right, Kay is a she. And it's not the first time for a female exec to take the helm of a car brand in the Philippines. Both Asian Carmakers Corporation (BMW) and Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC) also have lovely women currently seated as Presidents and they're doing a damn fine job at it. We're fully confident that Kay will do just as well.
Kay Heart effectively replaces current Ford Philippines President Randy Krieger who has lead the company since 2010. Yes, they've also replaced the official title of the company's top brass.
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Industry Update
Words by Carl Trocio | Photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz
Every run-of-the-mill family usually has a designated enforcer, commonly known as “the bad ass.” For the Mercedes-Benz family tree, laymen have bestowed such title to the G-Class - unarguably a tough looking specimen that was built to do hard work and dirty jobs. With the body aerodynamics similar to that of a Lego® brick, the land speed record is far from its life’s mission. Instead, the G-Wagon enjoys crawling on mud, dirt, and rocks in hostile environments and is a regular mainstay in the military (of some countries, not ours). Yes, in the family of vehicles that caters to the privileged, this brute of a sibling does count as the resident bad ass.Enter the Mercedes-Benz Unimog. Imagine if the G-Wagon had an ugly bigger brother that just came out of prison. Better yet, if Mercedes-Benz opened a can of whoop-ass, the Unimog would come out of the can. The Unimog represents the company’s heavy-duty line of commercial vehicles built to go anywhere and take on the toughest conditions. The name “Unimog” is an acronym for “universal motor device” in Germanese.
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Newly Launched
