A female motorist once parked her SUV in the paid parking facility of a Quezon City mall. When she returned to her car, she found that a window had been smashed and P200,000 worth of valuables had…
Whenever you enter your car, sit down, grip the steering wheel, switch on the engine and handle the gearshift, your hands, clothes and shoes bring dirt and thousands of bacteria, molds and fungi into your car with…
As you read this, three things are threatening the Philippine automotive industry: 1) disruption of the global supply chain by COVID-19; 2) the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on cars imported…
The sudden shutdown of Honda’s assembly plant last month has added urgency to calls for the government to protect local assembly plant workers and auto parts suppliers from the loss of jobs. Even before Honda Cars Philippines,…
Photos by Aida Sevilla Mendoza Twelve years ago, the QQ, a minicar bearing the Chinese brand Chery entered the Philippine market. Because of its low price and cute design, the QQ scored high sales figures, especially as…
Photos by Aida Sevilla Mendoza PROLOGUE. Made-in-China cars are now challenging the decades-long domination of the Philippine automotive market by Japanese brands. A surge of China-sourced motor vehicles entered or re-entered the market after the ASEAN-China Free…
From 34,952 vehicles sold in 2018 to 42,694 units by year-end 2019—how does Nissan Philippines, Inc. do it? As early as the first quarter of 2018, Nissan began its strong growth trajectory despite the industry-wide slowdown caused…
Automotive industry players traditionally organize a big year-end thanksgiving party for the motoring media, complete with exciting games, raffle prizes, and a live band. This time, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) bucked tradition by organizing a subdued…
Although the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID) posted a 12 percent sales growth in December 2019, versus the same month in 2018 by selling 8,089 units, its full year sales of 87,984 units were 0.5…
Graphs by Aida Sevilla Mendoza Up one year, down the next, then up again like a yoyo. In 2017, the automotive industry posted a high of 448,107 total vehicle sales, encouraging industry leaders to envision a sales…
