Recent rumblings in the automotive industry talk about Chinese brands changing management hands. And from what we've heard, there will be a few. But why do the principals feel the sudden need to come in lock, stock, and barrel to take over the Filipino-run local distributorships? Haven't they done enough to promote the brand? Did the distributors fall short of sales targets? Or have the distributors failed in the perception game despite the uptick in Chinese-made cars' build, tech and quality in

A decade ago, if you told us that Chinese car brands would be among the top 10 sellers in the Philippines, we’d tell you to get lost. But the latest data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. has proven just that – Geely and Foton were 9th and 10th, respectively, in terms of units sold locally in 2022. This is all the more notable given that Geely only started operations locally in September 2019, while Foton had been notorious for producing cheap but questionable-

Disclosure: Chery Auto Philippines lent us a Chery Tiggo 8 PRO 1.6T for eight days with a full tank of gas. Additional fuel and toll fees were paid by the writer using his personal money. Jetour Auto Philippines likewise invited the writer to an all-expense paid trip to China which included a visit of the Chery Auto manufacturing facilities. Something about the tag “Made in China” turns many car buyers off. Geopolitics aside, Chinese-built cars have long suffered from the negative impressions th

The Chinese carmaker again piqued the interest of local motorists at the 8th Philippine International Motor Show, with the debut of a turbocharged, 2.0-liter straight four, all-wheel-drive (AWD) model for its top-end Tiggo 8 Pro nameplate. The variant sits right between the turbocharged 1.6-liter straight-four Tiggo 8 Pro and the Tiggo 8 Pro PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle). The Tiggo 8 Pro 2.0T AWD has 254 ps and 390 Nm under the rightmost pedal, linked to a seven-speed dual-clutch automa

As Chevrolet launched a new subcompact crossover at a time when the class was tough to be on top of, they had a lot of promises, to begin within the competition. If you are among those who are wondering what this new subcompact crossover SUV's pros and cons are, the list below would help. Pros It comes with a fresh design for a subcompact crossover SUV As the automobile trend now favors subcompact crossover SUVs, we barely see a model that looks different from the others. However, the all-new Ch

It would have been quite undoubtedly interesting if there ever was a car version of a Ms. Universe pageant. Imagine all those flaunting specks of white thighs in place of er, slim, and singularly-chiseled quad pipes. (hah! You wish) But of course, such a thing would never happen. It's just one of those run-away goosebumps of fertile-wild imaginings of sorts, we guess. However, the closest thing that ever was to resemble a kind of "car pageant" (we could think of) would be that so-called annual e