January to August vehicle registration report

Continuing with this column’s commitment to come up with regular documented reports of actual car registration all over the country as released by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and validated by STRADCOM, its longtime official IT provider, here is the list of 20 automobile companies and the number of their registered vehicles from January to August of 2017.

It is worth noting that these figures represent actual nationwide car registration with the LTO of passenger cars – sedans, SUVs, pickups, sports cars, crossovers, etc. but exclude trucks, buses, among others.

Next week, if space permits we shall make a similar report centering on the specific vehicle categories (sedans, SUVs, sports cars, pickups, vans, etc.) distinct between th  Standard from those that are considered as Premium/Luxury models.

BYD celebrates four successful years in PH

“We are grateful to all of you most especially to our clients, bank partners and media friends for your unceasing support. BYD Philippines has been in the country for four years now and we are proud to say our customers are very happy and satisfied,” remarked the youngest top   executive of the local auto industry, Mark Andrew Tieng, managing director of Solar Transport and Automotive Resources Corp. (STAR Corp.), the authorized distributor of BYD vehicles in the Philippines during celebrations marking its fourth year of successful operations in the country.

We also learned from the young left-handed golf enthusiast with a respectable handicap that BYD, aside from introducing various technological advances in the world, automotive industry in the last four years is now the world’s top supplier of electric vehicles with a market share of 13.2 percent, which is higher than Tesla’s 9.9 percent.

Over the years, BYD Philippines has shown the local automobile market several technological advancements such as its remote controlled vehicle, the F5 Suri. There was also BYD’s Hybrid sedan, the Qin as well as it sfully electric vehicle, the E6.

To mark its  ourth anniversary and inspired by the event’s theme, which is “Driving to the Future,” STAR Corp. unveiled the all-new BYD S1 and the all-new BYD Lithium Ion Phospate Forklift.

Mark presents the S1 as a five-seater, petrol-powered sub-compact SUV with a “Rebellious” look that offers advanced technologies such as an Android Multimedia system equipped with Bluetooth, USB ports and an eight-inch touchscreen.

On the other hand, the all-new BYD forklift, arguably the only one of its kind available in the Philippines today, is powered by BYD’s Lithium Ion Phosphate battery, the smallest and most powerful available in the market. “This remarkable forklift’s features include automatic speed reduction when cornering, forward tilting and overload protection, braking assist, a battery management system and a multi-function TFT screen to help the operator monitor its performance, which make operating it safe and convenient,” stresses Mark.

There’s still a mouthful to say and learn about these two new offerings from BYD, which I suggest you discover yourselves by dropping by the BYD Shaw Boulevard showroom located in Mandaluyong City.

We wish BYD Philippines more success in the years to come.

Robinson’s Malls “on site” voting

For a couple of weekends, Robinson’s Malls located within the metro graciously played host to this year’s search for the country’s most popular Standard and Premium/Luxury automobiles by providing voting booths where the public could cast their votes for the models of their choice.

We would like to report here the top five models that garnered the most number of votes for 2017-2018 Auto Focus Automobile of the Year—People’s Choice during those weekends.

Standard models

1.    Honda Civic

2.    Mitsubishi Montero Sport

3.    Ford Ranger

4.    Jeep Wrangler

5.    Ford Mustang

Premium/Luxury   models

1.    Lamborghini Aventador

2.    Audi R8

3.    Lamborghini Huracan

4.    Porsche Boxster

5.    MINI Mini Cooper

Top models combined (Total votes)

1.    Honda Civic

2.    Lamborghini Aventador

3.    Audi R8

4.    Lamborghini Huracan

5.    Porsche Boxster

6.    Mitsubishi Montero Sport

7.    Ford Ranger

8.    Jeep Wrangler

9.    MINI Cooper / Ford Mustang

10. Ford Everest

These votes cast at Robinson’s Malls shall be added to those cast online through the Auto Focus website (www.autofocus.com.ph).

Votes cast and actual sales registered until Oct. 31, 2017 shall be combined with weight values of 80 percent for votes and 20 percent for sales to determine actual points for each model.

Based on the combined votes and sales tally, the top garners will be given awards of recognition for Automobile of the Year—People’s Choice separate for Standard and for Premium/Luxury models. There will also be awards for ‘most preferred models’ for each vehicle category of sedans, SUVs, sports cars, etc. to be handed out during the awards night scheduled in early November.

The objective of the exercise is to provide car manufacturers and importers with an idea of the public’s preference as to the kind of vehicles that it wants to buy or just aspires to have.

During the same ceremonies, separate from the “people’s choice” awards, distinguished members of the country’s motoring media shall also bare their choices based on their actual test drives as this year’s most outstanding automobile models in each of the 12 categories of the Standard and 10 of the Premium/Luxury groups in terms of engine performance, design, safety and overall value for money via the Auto Focus Media’s Choice Awards. The actual voting by motoring journalists is scheduled next week.

The motoring media’s assessment would hopefully guide industry players through the more detailed preferences among the present crop of models available in the country.

Public online voting, which can be done everyday is still in progress until the end of the month. And daily electronic raffles offering valuable giveaways (coffee mugs, clocks, t-shirts, etc.) are also conducted among those who cast their votes. With the raffles being daily, winning prizes everyday is not remote.

TV streaming “on demand”

The best of both worlds for all motoring and car enthusiasts with any of these two websites, www.motoringtoday.ph or www.autofocus.com.ph.

You can stream all the weekly past and present episodes of the TV shows Motoring Today and Auto Focus in their entirety.

Or if you don’t have that much time you can just zero in on the latest news about transportation and traffic management, the auto industry or the latest car reviews and head-to-head comparisons of the latest models and other motoring or auto features selectively by its individual web page.

All those news and features — only a click away.

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments & inquiries email [email protected].