Fourth (week) of July fireworks

July 27: Toyota’s Hilux unveiled

The motoring media never had it so hectic like last week. In a span of seven days (two of them on a weekend), four major automobile manufacturers fired off their opening salvos for the second half of 2015.

Naturally, excited motoring scribes ran “for cover,” in a manner of speaking. The only question was where did they aim their own pens at?

Ford, Thai wheels be done. Ford Philippines raised the curtains to this all-motoring week when, on the final weekend of July, it brought about two dozen Pinoy motoring scribes to Chiang Rai, Thailand, to drive the tech-laden all-new Ford Everest 4×2 and 4×4 in anticipation of the SUV’s launch across Asia-Pacific markets in the coming months.

Motioncars-Inquirer Motoring’s Alvin Uy and Jason Ang were there to experience the 140-kilometer drive “on seamless highways and roughest back roads.”

READ: All-new Ford Everest first drive

READ: Tech features of the all-new Ford Everest

‘King of pickups’ catches up. Toyota Motor Philippines wasn’t done with its own show of force. Fresh from its one-million-sales celebration on July 9, TMP introduced an all-new Hilux (finally!) at the Fontana Convention Center in Clark on July 27.

The next day, the motoring media and representatives of car clubs (such as the Toyota Auto Club of the Philippines and the Hilux Club of the Philippines) put the Hilux through its paces.

The highlight of the new Hilux is its new GD diesel engine (2.8- or 2.4-liter, four-cylinder, 16-valve VN Turbo Intercooler), which provides a maximum output of 174 horsepower/3400 revolutions per minute, and maximum torque of 450 Newton-meters/1600-2400 rpm). It is offered in seven variants with a starting price of P929,000.

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TMP president Michinobu Sugata described the eighth-generation Hilux as “gentle, yet commanding, the new engine considerably more quiet in practical use—vibrations and road noise are well suppressed even on rough terrain.”

READ: All-new Toyota Hilux first drive

Mazda2’s moments. On July 28, Mazda Philippines launched the Mazda2 subcompact sedan and hatchback variants with a drive around the Southern Tagalog region that revealed its engineering and design innovations.

JULY 28: Mazda2 SkyActiv subcompact sedan and hatchback photos by Tessa R. Salazar

The drive experience was spiced up with an impromptu photo competition, and an open forum/feedback between motoring journalists and Hiroshima-based Mazda engineer and designer.

Mazda Philippines’ two-day event was themed “All-new Mazda2 SkyActiv: Beyond Expectations.” The overall total 450-km route that wound through the fast straights and winding countryside roads of Laguna, Quezon, Cavite and Batangas  proved beyond doubt among the 30 or so participating motoring scribes that this so-designed “pouncing animal” is, indeed, a driver’s car.

Berjaya Auto Philippines and Mazda Philippines president and CEO Steven Tan said: “The famed Viaje del Sol route around the provinces south of Manila not only offers a rich cultural and historical backdrop to any road trip, but it also provides some of the most scenic and challenging roads that any driver will thoroughly enjoy. The all-new Mazda2 SkyActiv not only provides the ideal platform for motorists to get from point A to point B, but it also allows them to enjoy getting there.”

The all-new Mazda2 SkyActiv is the fourth generation of the nameplate and the second generation to be launched in the Philippines. It is also the fourth model to embrace the Kodo-Soul of Motion design philosophy in Mazda’s local lineup.

JULY 30: French brand Peugeot launched the all-new 2008 for the B-segment, which combines the driving characteristics of a hatchback and the strength of a mini SUV.

2008 a leap forward, not a throwback year. French brand Peugeot (the Philippine distributor being Eurobrands Distributor Inc.) launched the all-new Peugeot 2008 for the B-segment on July 30 at Blue Leaf Events Pavilion in Taguig.

According to EDI, the 2008 “combines the driving characteristics of a hatchback and the strength of a mini SUV with an on-board area.” The 2008 is powered by a 1.6-liter gasoline engine that delivers 120 HP, and which EDI boasts has the best emission in its class.

Women drivers would most likely fall in love with the 2008, as it boasts of a high driving position. Retaining the French flair for car designs, the 2008’s fascia adopts the latest Peugeot-style codes. The panoramic “Cielo” roof is adorned by mood-inducing LED running lights.

In this image released by Paramount Pictures, Tom Cruise appears in a scene from “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.” (Bo Bridges/Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions via AP)

BMW’s “Mission Possible.” The week sounded so impossible for motoring media. But miraculously, the auto industry pulled it off, and was even capped off by a special screening by Asian Carmakers Corp.’s special screening of “Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation ”on July 31 highlighting Ethan Hunt’s favorite drives: The BMW M3 and the BMW S1000 RR. The BMW 3 Series Anniversary Edition was on display the entire evening.

Here, closer to home, the “impossible week” became a possibility, and we all chose to accept it.