GAC Philippines recently invited us on a quick media drive with the 2023 GAC Emkoo. We took the brand’s latest compact 5-seater SUV on a road trip from P to P (Pasay to Pampanga) within one day. It was a great opportunity for us to test out the vehicle to see if it was really Emcool enough for us as a long distance road trip car. 360 Cam: Parking made easy Before the road trip started, we had a quick activity with the Emkoo to test its 360-degree camera feature, wherein we had to park the vehicl

“In this business, you gotta have a tough skin.” This is what Visor.Ph Editor-in-Chief Vernon Sarne told me at last week's BMW M2 launch event. Chief, as I fondly call him to this day (he got me to join Top Gear Philippines magazine as a cover photographer and writer back in 2010), has seen it all and has been through wars ordinary people would have waived the white flag early on. The mental and physical stress this job entails can be too much for someone who cares about his craft. So when we he

GAC Philippines has reached another significant milestone in the Philippines, surpassing 1,000 units in total retail sales for 2023 - a record achievement for the automaker since being under the global mobility company Astara. GAC Motor achieved year-to-date retail sales of 1,017 units as of August. The figures are likewise reflected on the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) database. The 1000+ sales is evidence of the brand’s growing popularity in the country. T

This year’s auto industry rigodon has new participants. Astara Philippines, the multinational mobility distributor that handles the local operations of Peugeot and GAC Motor, announced in an August 2023 press statement that it has appointed two well-renowned executives in key leadership positions. Timmy Naval-de Leon, who was formerly head of corporate communications of the Ayala Corporation’s automotive arm AC Motors for nine years, is now Astara Phiippines’ new marketing director. Naval-de Leo

Disclaimer, GAC Philippines lent us the GAC Emkoo GE with a full gas tank for 15 days with access to its two RFID cards. The GAC Philippines debuted the 2023 GAC Emkoo at the 2023 Manila International Auto Show. It's part of the brand’s growing crossover portfolio in the Philippines as it seeks to take a bigger piece out of the local market with Astara Philippines backing it up. The new Emkoo brought futuristic styling to the motor show, turbocharged power, and many new features to attract the c

Hybrid vehicles are becoming popular in the Philippine market, with more and more automakers bringing their examples to the car-buying public. We have recent entries into the segment from the Chinese such as the Haval Jolion (Specs | News) and Haval H6, and even more from the Japanese, such as the Toyota Corolla, Corolla Cross, RAV4, Zenix, Yaris Cross, and Nissan Kicks, each trying to get a piece of the lucrative pie, especially with the ever-increasing fuel prices. While many are curious about