People’s Choice Awards Launch a Grand Success

The weather cooperated by giving us a sunny morning last Saturday that held throughout the day and on to Sunday for a very successful launch of the Petron Extra Unleaded 2006 Auto Focus Automobile/Motorcycle of the Year — People’s Choice Awards at the Central Gateway of Fort Bonifacio.

The Grand Display of the latest and the best that the local automotive and motorcycle sectors can offer gave an opportunity for their distinct markets to conveniently see up close, test drive, ride and meticulously compare one model’s amenities, features, technical specs, price, sales promos, etc., against the other and in just one site at one time and made it indeed the biggest and most extensive motor show in the country now being held yearly.

On-site voting kicked off the polls that would determine the most preferred models in the 12 automobile categories and the different motorcycle models with the model garnering the most number of votes being bestowed the very prestigious title of Petron Extra Unleaded 2006 Auto Focus Automobile/Motorcycle of the Year — People’s Choice Award for being the most popular automobile and motorcycle model for the year. Voting thru SMS or texting would commence anytime within the week while those who prefer to vote on-line can do so in a few days time through the Auto Focus Website. A unique program designed for this year’s polls would allow only one vote for each category for every registered person on-line and similarly for every registered number if done thru SMS. This safeguard would definitely strengthen the integrity and credibility of the awards as it effectively deters the possibility of multi-voting.

This unprecedented convergence of all of the motoring industry’s latest models also became an expedient chance for people who are in the market for their next vehicle to get better acquainted with what the market presently offers helping them in making a more educated choice. And those who came were further rewarded with raffles of surprise valuable items from participating auto companies and sponsors that were done every ten minutes.

Another plus factor of this exercise for the consumers is that the close scrutiny that these models in the market go through from the public who either want to buy or just want to stamp their vote of confidence would make automobile manufacturers and distributors more aware in making their vehicles meet the highest standards not only in riding comfort and performance but in safety as well to meet the present consumer demands.

We heard that inquiries ran high and actual sales were closed in the first two days of the Grand Display, which was participated in by the major players in the industry that include in alphabetical order; Cats Motors, Ford Philippines, Honda Cars Philippines, Hyundai Motors, Mazda Philippines, Nissan Motors Philippines, PGA Cars, Toyota Motor Philippines, Viking Cars for Volvo and Honda Philippines (motorcycles).

All roads will again lead to the Central Gateway of Fort Bonifacio for all auto and bike enthusiasts as well as those in the market for the best and the latest motor vehicles on April 22 to 23 and April 29 to 30 as we again have the Grand Display of the Petron Extra Unleaded 2006 Auto Focus Automobile/Motorcycle of the Year — People’s Choice Awards.

A Galant come back

"The introduction of the all new Galant reinforces Mitsubishi Motors Philippines’ passenger car line up and gives us the opportunity to improve further our total passenger car market share," was the core of the message of Mr. Kengo Takase, MMPC president and CEO in his speech during the media launch of the all-new Galant 240M held last Wednesday, January 25th at the Le Pavilion in Roxas Boulevard.

Mitsubishi Motors Senior VP Mel Dizon presented the all-new Galant 240M as "bigger in every aspect than its predecessor and in fact, he added, also boasts the best-in-class dimensions against other sedans in the same segment."

As you inspect the interior of the all-new Galant, what would strike you best are the seats that are wrapped in glove-soft black leather and accented by dark wood and slim chrome trimmings that have an 8-way power adjustment with variable lumbar support. Another eye-catcher is its easy to read instrumentation that comes in a 3-stage high contrast illuminated meters.

The Galant 240M is powered by a 2.4 liter MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing and lift Electronic Control System) engine that’s mated to a 4-speed INVECS-II automatic transmission with Sportronic. The expected comfortable ride would be courtesy of an all-wheel independent suspension system that includes McPherson struts with stabilizer bars up front and multi-link with stabilizer bars at the rear.

No, I won’t spoil your fun discovering the many unique features that the all-new Galant 240M offers. You’ll have to go to your nearest Mitsubishi Showroom to enjoy the thrill yourself.

Mixed emotions at the Toyota Media Thanksgiving Party

It was a big celebration for Toyota Motor Philippines last Wednesday at the Westin Philippine Plaza. And why not? It’s their 4th consecutive "Triple Crown" marking their almost total market dominance of the local automotive industry for four years in succession. The occasion also marked the launch of their new RAV4, viewed by many as another big winner and another market share grabber despite being limited to its niche market. The event has also been set aside by Toyota Motor Philippines to thank their friends in the media for their continued support for Toyota and dedicated commitment to help develop the local auto industry. But somehow the occasion had some sad note.

One of the motoring media’s best-loved presidents of Toyota Motor Philippines has announced his re-assignment from the local company that he led to unprecedented heights despite all the economic and political challenges that this country faced during his leadership.

Mr. Nobuharu Tabata has always been known as the soft-spoken, mild-mannered Toyota top honcho who has endeared himself to the local media for being just himself — accommodating and nice but very sharp. He has a ready smile and a handshake for everybody — during Toyota events and even when he sees you outside — he has a keen memory for faces and names.

Well, the occasion also marked the changing of the guards at TMPC and we welcome to the Philippines Mr. Hiroshi Ito. He was introduced as a man with a wealth of global experience to share with the local automotive industry and we wish him all the best as he faces new challenges in our country as we wish our very kind friend Mr. Tabata all the good fortune in his new endeavors. God speed Tabata-san. We’ll all miss you. Sayonara.

Pit Lane Notes

Looks like McLaren will be losing yet another integral part of their technical team to Red Bull. Last year it was technical director Adrian Newey, and now its chief aerodynamicist (and, coincidentally, Newey’s former assistant) Peter Prodromou. So the question is, why are the McLaren bigwigs jumping ship, and why is their new vessel of choice the Red Bull team? Hmmmm.

The FIA has announced that they have already found the 11th team on the grid for 2006 and its Japan’s Honda-powered Super Aguri Team. The last time we had 22 cars on the grid was in 2002 — back when Arrows was still part of Formula 1. As for who will be driving for them, one thing’s for certain: Takuma Sato’s place on the team. The young Japanese driver was with BAR Honda last year, but his contract was not renewed for 2006. Lady Luck must have been smiling down at Takuma because rumor has it he was handpicked by Aguri Suzuki, the team principal and founder. Let’s see how the new team on the block will fare in Bahrain in March.

MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi will be testing with Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa and the rest of Ferrari in Valencia next week. He will be driving the F2004 car, and this series of sessions will tell us a lot about how ready he is to jump to four wheels. Rossi is still under contract with the Yamaha MotoGP team this year and is rumored to move to F1 within the next two years.

All the help that the SPMJ can have

If it’s for a good cause, problems will have early solutions — that’s what SPMJ, the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists is finding out right now as people are coming forward to help us line up schools where we can conduct free seminars for both their teachers and students on the responsible and safe use of the roads.

Our thanks to the Rotary Club of Neopolitan Fairview lead by Engineer Victor Rojas of the DPWH with Mrs. Consuelo Sison of Tulong Daan, a traffic management assistance project of Rotary Neopolitan for helping organize our next seminar scheduled this Friday and Saturday, February 3 and 4 at the Diliman Prep High School at Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.

This is the second school adopted by Toyota Motor Philippines, this time through the Toyota Commonwealth Dealership where the top third and fourth year students would be taught how to become responsible and safe road users. To assure continuity a separate seminar for teachers shall also be conducted on how to teach their students on this life-saving subject matter based on the teaching modules prepared by the National Center for Transportation Studies of the UP that are given to these schools also free of charge.

Well, SPMJ can still make use of any kind of help, especially from parents who should be alarmed by the figures that show children as a major sector of society that fall victim to road accidents, to convince the schools where their children go to take advantage of these free seminars, if only to help minimize these numbers. Once you have convinced your child’s school, write to us at [email protected] and we’ll take it up from there.

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments: e-mail [email protected].