Largely wonderful weather this last week! As the holiday season draws near, it’s been clear skies with cool, refreshing breezes that can help us lay off the air-conditioning (and, consequently, bring our sky-high electric bills down). Despite the chilliness rolling in, it’s been a hot week for one Asian carmaker – and for once, it isn’t from China! Hyundai Philippines launched two new models last week and is mulling over bringing even more. The South Korean company is among your five favorite st

Disclosure: GAC Philippines lent us a 2024 GAC GS3 Emzoom R-Style unit with a full gas tank for seven days. When GAC Philippines launched the 2024 GAC GS3 Emzoom, it set its sights on the very lucrative subcompact crossover segment. The new crossover would have to fight against established nameplates such as the Geely Coolray, MG ZS-T, and the Changan CS-35 Plus. However, the automaker was confident it could take on these established players thanks to the specifications it brought in with the ne

When Toyota Philippines launched the Toyota Raize, the Japanese automaker knew it had a hit on its hands. The subcompact crossover ticks all the right boxes for an affordable yet frugal car with the right features. Toyota was wise to bring in two engine options for the Raize as it is available with either a 1.2-liter naturally aspirated inline-3 motor or a turbocharged 1.0-liter inline-3 engine. Now that the crossover has gotten some time to settle in, many buyers are curious to know how much it

Whatever your opinion may be of the Geely Coolray, you can’t deny that it made huge waves when it showed up on our roads in 2019. It not only put Geely on the map as a Chinese car brand with actual street cred, but it turned the then-rather-boring subcompact crossover segment into a market where everyone had to be. Jetour, a subsidiary of the Chery Holding Group, is aiming to do the same thing with the Dashing crossover, which wades into battle with heaps of style and tech never before seen in c

Disclaimer: Sojitz G Auto Philippines Corporation, the official importer and distributor of Geely in the Philippines, very kindly lent us a 2022 Geely Okavango Urban Plus for one week. It came with a full tank of gas and RFID cards with load. AutoFun Philippines paid for additional fuel, toll fees and a car wash. Being a race organizer and a race instructor is exhausting. Case in point, when the Philippine Autocross Championship Series (PACS) held its Danny Santiago’s “Track All You Want” event

The first time the Nissan Grand Livina entered the Philippine market in 2008, it was a three-row hatchback based on the Nissan Tiida platform. It was ahead of its time in many ways, as it offered car-like handling and seating for seven. Typical of what crossovers provide today. As head of the marketing team of Nissan Motor Philippines, Inc (NMPI) at that time, I was tasked to find ways to slot such a strange vehicle concept into the MPV-crazy consciousness of Filipino car buyers. The 2008 Nissan