REV UP, 14th Diliman Motorshow on February 21, 2009

The University of the Philippines Gears and Pinions (UPGPs) will be holding REV UP, The 14th Diliman Motorshowon February 21, 2009, Saturday, at the College of Engineering, University of the Philippines.  The motorshow highlights the grand week-long celebrations entitled “The M.E. Days 2009” on February 16-21, 2009, at UP Diliman.

The premier event of the ME Days, the Diliman Motorshow with almost over 50 participants last year, attracts various car enthusiasts all over Luzon. What used to be biennial in the ’90s has turned into an annual event due to popular demand and the publicity that comes along with it. Aside from the car show, there will also be a miniature car exhibit, RC drift competition, loudmatch (Sound Pressure League), and get-togethers for different car clubs. Read more

PTT Philippines Launches Ethanol-Blended Gasoline

PTT Philippines Corp. (PTTPC), the local arm of PTT Public Ltd. Co. of Thailand, launched last January 28, 2009 its new ethanol-blended gasoline, Performa 95+.

PTTPC president Siripong Phoungpaka, said they have invested about P6 million to be able to comply with the ethanol blend requirement under the biofuels law.

Under Republic Act 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006, oil companies are required to blend five percent ethanol in their gasoline products starting Feb. 6, 2009. By 2010, this blend will be increased to 10 percent. Read more

Mitsubishi Unveils First Mass-Market Electric Car From a Major Auto Maker

Mitsubishi has unveiled the first mass-market electric car from a mainstream car maker. Slightly bigger than the Smart ForTwo but with a similar design, the i-MiEV – which goes on sale in the UK later this year – is based on the i, Mitsubishi’s existing city car. With room for four adults, it has a top speed of 87mph and produces the equivalent of 57 horsepower. Its lithium-ion battery has a range of 100 miles and can be charged from flat to 80% in 20 minutes using Mitsubishi’s bespoke high-powered charger; otherwise, a normal main electricity socket will charge the battery from flat to full in six hours. Mitsubishi estimates that the car can travel 10,000 miles on £45 of electricity at current UK domestic prices.

Jim Tyrrell, managing director of Mitsubishi, said, “The i-MiEV is a great example of Mitsubishi’s ability to innovate and bring the latest technology to market. We have a city car to suit real-world users with its ease of use, great environmental credentials and very low running costs.” Read more

Chevron Allots $20 Million for 5% Bioethanol Blend Compliance

Chevron Philippines Inc. has committed to invest some $20 million to comply with the five-percent bioethanol blend mandated by the Biofuels Law.

Mark Quebral, Chevron manager for policy government and public affairs, told a press conference yesterday that they have started importing their ethanol requirement from Brazil to meet the Biofuels Law mandate which will be effective next month.

Quebral said that aside from Basic Energy, the company is also talking with a local ethanol producer based in Northern Luzon for a possible supply agreement. Read more

Asian Car Makers Eye Growth in Emerging Markets

Asian car makers will likely shift production and sales efforts to Southeast Asia and other emerging markets as demand from developed countries continues to fall in the next two to three years, global debt watcher Fitch Ratings yesterday said.

“We expect growth mainly from emerging markets. [Japanese and Korean carmakers] will shift to overseas. They will shut down in domestic markets but they will increase production capacity overseas,” Fitch Ratings Director Tatsuya Mizuno told a teleconference yesterday.

Car sales in the Philippines, for instance, bucked the worldwide downturn by growing 5.6% last year, industry data show. Industry and government estimates further show that sales will grow by 2-4% or flatten at worst this year. Read more

Toyota Philippines Posts Record Sales of 45,915 Units in 2008

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP), the country’s largest car manufacturer, announced yesterday that it recorded an all-time high sales of 45,915 units in 2008 despite the general slowdown in global consumer demand.

“Aside from recording an all-time high sales of 45,915 units since the start of our operations, we have also captured our 7th consecutive triple crown, number one in passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and overall sales,” Raymond Rodriguez, TMP’s First Vice President for Vehicle Sales said in a statement.

“We have also experienced an upward trend market share towards the last two months of 2008. Our November and December shares posted highest for the year at 42.2 percent and 39.6 percent respectively due to the strong sales of our Vios, Innova, Fortuner, Avanza, Hilux and Camry models, which are all leaders in their respective segments,” he added. Read more

Toyota Upbeat on Lexus Sales Despite Crunch

Targeting just 1 percent of the population, Toyota Motor Corp. recently brought in to the Philippines five models of its luxury brand Lexus with a price range of P2.9 million to P8.2 million.

Even with the difficult economic situation, Daniel Isla, president of the newly created Toyota subsidiary Lexus Manila Inc., said the company is confident of doing well in its initial year of operations in the country by selling 200 to 300 units.

“The luxury market will not be severely affected during the financial crisis, not as compared with the volume segment,” Isla told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the grand inauguration of the Lexus Manila Inc. facility at the North Bonifacio in Taguig. Read more

Lifan Enters RP Car Market with Confidence

An automotive manufacturing company with heavy presence in Latin America and Europe is ready to take the Philippine market by storm with the introduction of new passenger car models that are sure to capture the interest of the picky Filipino car buyers.

For 2009, Lifan Cars will introduce to the Filipino car enthusiasts its LF520 mid-sized sedan.

The LF520 enjoys great demand in major markets. The car model has been exported to over 50 countries, including Russia, Vietnam, Iran, Chile and Venezuela, according to Nelson Ong, Lifan Cars president. Read more

Lifan Cars to Sell Low-Cost Autos in RP

Chinese carmaker Lifan Cars announced it will start soon selling low cost vehicles to the country.

“We are confident that the entry of Lifan Cars will help revitalize the local domestic industry as it gives car buyers more choices. Car buyers will also enjoy considerable savings without compromising the quality, safety and comfort of their vehicles,” Lifan Cars president Nelson Ong said in a statement.

Ong said he is confident that the company will enjoy commercial success in the Philippine market given the preference of Filipino car buyers to quality but affordable vehicles.

He said Lifan Cars expects to be a major player in the car sector in the long run as the company plans to expand its product portfolio in the Philippine market. Read more

Lexus Manila Inaugurates Showroom Amid Economic Uncertainties

The Philippine economy’s much-touted resilience in the face of the global financial crisis was much in evidence last week when Lexus Manila inaugurated its new showroom at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The three-evening event drew a large crowd of the country’s economic A-list and social gliteratti to the futuristic three-level Yuji Hirata-designed structure that features an atrium garden in the middle of the showroom floor.

Five Lexus models were unveiled at the inauguration, including the IS, ES and GS series sedans; the full-size SUV LX570; and the top of the line LS460L, with a sticker price of nearly P8 million. Still to come in March is the RX09, a smaller SUV that is expected to be the luxury brand’s top seller. Read more

Next Page »