Some are runaways but there are cliffhangers too

This year’s Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards are not going to be won handily by some although there are already clear winners in their categories.

With actual sales now part of the equation in this year’s polls, the Vios leads second placer Innova in the ‘Automobile of the Year’ race. The Vios’ 9,514 sales since January look insurmountable to the Innova’s 7,973 despite its 68 votes as against the Vios’ 8. Third on the contest is the Montero Sport with 7,406 sales and 35 votes. In the 2012 staging sales value account for 60 percent while votes at 40 percent.

In the ‘Models of the Year’ competition some of the cliffhangers include the Standard Compact Sedan category where the Hyundai Elantra and the Toyota Altis have identical sales of 1,517 but with the Elantra having the upper hand due to its 58 votes as against the 8 votes of the Altis. This one can go down the line. 

Another close one is in the Luxury Compact Sedan category where the BMW 3-Series has 144 units sold as against the Mercedes-Benz C-Class’ 143 units. A lead of only 1 unit sold but with the BMW model having 29 votes it’s on top of the MB model, which has only 13 votes. 

Voting stops at 12 midnight of September 30, which is also the deadline for unit sales. With a few days left to sell, some of the cliffhangers may be decided by the online votes cast on Facebook between now and the deadline.

The apparent runaways include the Vios in the Standard Sub-Compact category and in all probability as the “Automobile of the Year”. There’s also the BMW 1-Series in the Luxury Sub-Compact, the Toyota Camry in the Standard Mid-Size Sedan, the Chrysler 300 in the Standard Large Sedan, the Porsche Carrera 911 in the Luxury Sports car category, the Toyota Innova in the AUV group, the Hyundai Tucson in the Standard Compact SUV, the Mitsubishi Montero Sport in the Standard Midsize, the Audi Q5 in the Luxury Large SUV category the Isuzu Alterra in the Standard Large SUV, the Toyota Land Cruiser in the Luxury Large SUV, the Suzuki APV in the Standard mini-van, the Toyota Alphard in the Luxury Mini-van and the Toyota Hi-Ace in the Standard Large Van.

Then there’s the unique case in the Luxury Open category where the BMW M5 with 2 units sold leads the Subaru Outback that sold 18 units mainly due to the BMW model’s 51 votes against the Subaru’s 13.

There might be some stunning surprises in the coming last 2 weeks of the polls not only for the possible surge of votes from loyal model owners but also for possible adjustments in sales figures.

Stradcom, the LTO-endorsed official sales data provider of the 2012 Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards is currently further “cleaning up” the sales tally ridding it of imported used vehicles that were registered for the first time. These are mostly sales in the country’s ports that are known to allow importation and registration of used vehicles, which are not part of what’s considered as “sales votes.”      

If you want to see the latest update on the tally of votes, log on to www.autofocus.com.ph or Facebook (https://apps.facebook.com/afpcawards/).

“Kick for a cause”

“It started as a single-day event last year, but then due to the clamor of the currently-fast expanding base of soccer enthusiasts we have decided to turn it into a 2-day football festival” said Ms. Ginia Domingo, the very charming president of Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC), the exclusive distributors of Kia vehicles in the Philippines during the recent staging of the Kia Cup 2012 at the Alabang Country Club last September 1 and 2 in partnership with the Philippine Football Federation and the Philippine Azkals.

The first day kicked off with the boys’ and girls’ age group matches where players below 18 years old got to showcase their soccer skills. The second day was dedicated to the men’s and ladies’ open divisions. All in all, more than 150 teams turned up to compete—indeed football popularity is on the rise.

Aside from showcasing the budding skills of homegrown talents in friendly competition, the event was a “kick for a cause” affair as CAC donated all the registration fees of the tournament to help fund the travel expenses of the Philippine Homeless World Cup team to participate in a yearly competition that brings together teams of homeless people around the world in an effort to bring awareness to their cause.

“We at CAC are very thankful for the support that the football community has given to the Kia Cup 2012”, added Ginia. “Of course, this also extends to the Philippine Football Federation and the Philippine Azkals. Our partnership with them was a huge factor in making this tournament successful. We’re really happy that many teams have turned up again because above all, this is a fundraising event for the Philippine Homeless World Cup. The Kia Cup is just one of our ways to show Kia’s commitment and passion for football. In the future, we hope to create more opportunities to promote Philippine football.”

Last year CAC also heeded the call for succor by the country’s Homeless World Cup team in their overseas competition.

“CAC have always supported the country’s Homeless World Cup team and this year we are helping out to defray their travel expenses to Mexico where the world tournament would be held” confided CAC marketing executive Boying Soriano.

After the intense and muddy final matches on the last day of competitions the Sikat FC team came out victorious in the Ladies’ Open while the Kaya FC – A team went home with the bacon in the Men’s Open.

Underprivileged

but extremely talented

Business tycoon Robert Coyiuto, Jr., chairman of PGA Cars, Inc., the country’s exclusive importers and distributors of Porsche high-performance luxury automobiles once again made good his commitment to constantly search for talents among the underprivileged youth to become expertly-trained Porsche Mechatronics or automobile mechanics specializing in servicing Porsche automobiles.

The 7th batch of scholars of the Porsche Training and Recruitment Center (PTRCA) had their graduation last August 18, all 16 of them aptly at the Porsche showroom in EDSA Greenhills making a total of 98 beneficiaries from the program, all belonging to the underprivileged strata of the country’s society.

The PTRCA is a partnership between PGA Cars, Don Bosco Technical Institute and Porsche AG.

“I’ve always believed that the Filipino is capable of greatness on a global scale. Programs like the PTRCA bring this belief closer to reality, taking Filipino “diamonds in the rough” and turning them into truly world class individuals” our good friend Robert was heard saying during the ceremonies held in the presence of Porsche Asia Pacific after sales director, Martin Schloterer, Porsche Philippines managing director Robert Coyuito III, PTRCA training manager, Hertz Pura and Don Bosco Technical Institute technical director, Fr. Jose Dindo Vitug. 

During the graduation exercises the top three scholars of the 7th batch were honored, namely; Dave Laurence as batch valedictorian, Leonard Crisostomo, on second place and Alvin Jay Eusebio, third. This laudable undertaking is one of PGA Cars, Inc.’s major CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects, “a way of giving back to society” as Mr. Robert Coyiuto, Jr. would always say.

Happy Motoring!!!

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