Editor's Note

MANILA, Philippines - As part of our relentless efforts to provide Philippine STAR readers with the most insightful, authoritative and entertaining motoring section in broadsheet, we have conceptualized several new subsections that we will introduce to you throughout the month of April. The first of these new subsections is called “Outside Looking In”. To get straight to the point, Outside Looking In is a guest column of sorts. Via the column, we hope to present to you, our readers, the insights we’ve gained through our many travels while covering the global automotive scene – with specific focus on how global movements affect the Philippine market, of course. The best thing about it is how we will present these insights to you straight from our sources themselves – so as not to get lost in translation, so to speak.

For our opening salvo on Outside Looking In, we asked no less than Toyota Motor Asia Pacific’s Vince Socco to contribute his thoughts on how the Philippine automotive industry was able to stem the tide of the global financial downturn of 2009. As Senior Vice President for Area Operations overseeing various business markets in Asia and the Pacific region, Mr. Socco is acknowledged as the highest ranking Filipino in the global automotive industry – and it has given him a very unique perspective, as you will realize once you read his article in its entirety. He has been an automotive industry insider for almost three decades and has been based in Singapore for the past nine years. In the Philippine automotive industry, he is seen both as a mentor and as an inspiration by many. Yes, among our many exports are brilliant men and women who lead and contribute to the industry in more ways than one. Here are the thoughts of the one acknowledged by many to be the Philippines’ finest gift to the global automotive industry – from a perspective that he himself insists comes not merely from that of an industry insider, but more importantly from that of a Filipino proud to be called an OFW.