Mercedes-Benz A-Class at the House Manila

It was considered as the first hatchback luxury car when it was initially launched in 1997. On Nov. 22, Thursday the same star was reborn as Auto Nation Group, the official distributors of Mercedes-Benz automobiles in the Philippines unveiled the new A-Class at the House Manila of the Holiday Inn, Resorts World Manila in Newport City, Pasay.  

The new A-Class was presented that glittering evening by the father-and-son tandem of Auto Nation Group, Felix and Frankie Ang, as the first Mercedes-Benz model to feature the completely new infotainment system, the MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience), which also ushers in a new era in automotive connectivity.

Its highlight is the comprehensive touch operation concept-the combination of a 10.25-inch touchscreen, touchpad on the center console and Touch-Control buttons in the steering wheel. In addition to the intuitive operating experience, less driver distraction is another advantage.

Like all Mercedes-Benz vehicles, the new A-Class is also vaunted to be loaded with world-class safety features such as Active Brake Assist, Active Parking Assist with Partronic and rearview camera and seven airbags. It also has an anti-theft alarm package and tirefit with tire inflator in case of road emergencies.

During the detailed exposition, the motoring media present was apprised that under the hood, the new A-Class is powered by a new engine that is powerful yet efficient. The A200 Edition 1 and A200 Progressive, two of the three variants available in the country, are both powered by a 1.3-L seven-speed DCT engine with a power of 163hp and 250Nm of torque while the third variant, the A180 Progressive Sports a 1.3-L seven-speed DCT engine with 136 hp and 200 Nm of torque.

The three variants are being offered at P3.290 M for the A200 Edition 1, P2.990 M for the A200 Progressive and P2.490 M for the A 180 Progressive.

The moto industry’s performance from start of 2018

The Motorcycle Registration Report that was submitted by STRADCOM, the LTO’s longtime official IT Provider, which cover most of 2018 from January to October, was a real revelation as to the very healthy state of the motorcycle industry in the country.

A whooping total of 1,886,515 units were registered (therefore sold to users) with still two months of reporting to go. And don’t ask me about the number of models these figures represent for they are almost uncountable.

Honda maintains its market supremacy with a market share of 25.8 percent followed closely by Yamaha biting 22.58 percent of the pie while RUSI’s 14.83 percent is good enough for a third rank.

Now, here’s the complete LTO Motorcycle Registration Report:

The top 10 industry players have 98 percent of this rapidly growing market.

We’ll have the complete report for the year 2018 by mid January of next year. This may hopefully include the top-selling models of the year.

Watch for it.

Happy Motoring!!!

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