CarGuide.PH | Philippine Car News, Car Reviews, Car Prices

October 14, 2019

Why the Mazda MX-5 Remains Loved for 30 Years

Signs pointed out, “Welcome home [to] Hiroshima” around Mazda’s Miyoshi Proving Ground. Here, around 2,300 MX-5 descended onto the track in celebration of the roadster’s 30th anniversary; also in attendance were 102 members from the Miata Club of the Philippines and the MX-5 Club of Malaysia. There were other countries in attendance as well from Australia to Thailand to Italy to the United Kingdom, but none as big as the contingent from the Philippines.

This is the Purest Road-Going MX-5 ND According to Global Ambassador Nobuhiro Yamamoto

Glancing through Nobuhiro Yamamoto’s CV is enough to convince you that he’s cut his teeth doing go-fast Mazdas. After joining the Japanese carmaker in 1973, he worked on rotary engines culminating in their 24 Hours of Le Mans winning effort with the 787B in 1991. It was only fitting that after that, he became the program manager for the MX-5 including the current-generation ND.

We’ve outed it as Kia Philippines’s last unboxing of the year, and after that, we’ve managed to drive it too. And now, we finally have its launch date and prices.

The 2020 D-Max Gets All-New Engine, Platform; Looks Mighty Impressive

Isuzu has finally pulled the covers off its much-anticipated 2020 D-Max—the first time their venerable pickup truck has received a full-on model change in eight years. Utilizing a new powertrain and underpinned by an all-new platform, the D-Max now has what it takes to fight in the competitive pickup truck segment.

There just aren’t enough cool blue cars on the road. While Subaru’s made it a point to make it their trademark hue, here’s hoping that potential-future parent company Toyota does the same with Force Blue.

Despite increased competition, Ford managed to fortify its position in the pickup truck market with the announcement that the Ranger achieved an all-time record quarterly sales performance in the third quarter of 2019.

Porsche Design Manila formally opened its latest boutique located at The Shoppes at Solaire last October 2, 2019. Gracing the event and welcoming the guests were Porsche Design Asia-Pacific Sales Director, Ms. Nina Razali and Hans Clifford Yao, Managing Director of Porsche Design Manila.

Peugeot Philippines revealed a new initiative as part of its long-term strategy for the environment. Dubbed, “The Protectors of the Environment” (POE), it is a program designed to involve Peugeot customers and their children in a movement to combat climate change.

Nissan Philippines's "Go Anywhere" Campaign Wants You to Explore

As a way of demonstrating the capabilities of its Nissan Intelligent Mobility features, Nissan Philippines has introduced the “Go Anywhere” campaign to prove to consumers that their vehicles have the power and confidence to travel across locations around the Philippines.

The Autohub Group of Companies announced that Triumph Motorcycles is joining their line-up of motorcycle brands, further strengthening their foothold in the premium two-wheeler segment. Appointed as the official distributor, Sammy Montecastro will take the helm as the General Manager of the brand.

By January 2020, Ford Mustang owners who are looking to add even more oomph to their rides can rely on Shelby. This is after The Autohub Group of Companies announced that they will be adding the iconic American brand to their brand portfolio.

Chevrolet’s attempts to refresh their products in the ASEAN market seem to be limited to mere accessory jobs like the Colorado Trail Boss, Colorado High Country Storm, and the Trailblazer Phoenix. In the U.S. meanwhile, it gets an entirely new front-end that’s basically all grille.

Nissan is hoping three time’s the charm. After the sacking of Carlos Ghosn and the departure of Hiroto Saikawa, the Japanese carmaker is appointing Makoto Uchida as their new chief operating officer (CEO). He will take the top spot no later than January 1 of next year.

Mazda Philippines Sells 3 Mazda3 Per Day Since Its Launch

The 2020 Mazda3 is off to a scorching start. Seven weeks since its official Philippine launch, Mazda Philippines has revealed that they’re almost out of stock thanks to the strong reception by Filipino buyers (read our first impressions).

Nissan Philippines is kicking off its last quarter storm with a bang, giving customers big deals on the Almera, Urvan, Navara, Sylphy, and Terra this entire month of October. With Nissan’s “Go Big” promo, select either all-in low downpayment of just P 23,000 or cash savings as much as P 120,000.

90’s nostalgia is in full swing as Honda Integra Type Rs are now commanding a princely sum as well. The outrageous second hand prices used to be limited to the likes of the Supra and NSX, but now, even Honda’s sporty coupe doesn’t go unnoticed.

With Volkswagen tweaking its corporate logo for the future, it makes sense that they’ll be doing it for their Volkswagen R brand as well. Representing the sportiest model in the portfolio, the R gets its first re-do since the German carmaker came out with it in 2002.

Volvo Cars and Geely intend to merge their existing combustion engine operations into a stand-alone business in order to establish a new global supplier that will seek to develop next-generation combustion engines and hybrid powertrains.

Sometime next year, Audi Philippines will be introducing a heavily refreshed Q7 and with it comes styling heavily influenced by its flagship Q8. But before that happens, there’s this: the 2019 Q7. It’s hard to imagine but 10 years ago, Audi didn’t have SUVs. Sure, they built a name around the quattro all-wheel drive, but they had no high-riding, family-oriented vehicles.

Peugeot Philippines Brings In Malaysian-Made 3008. Prices Start at P 1,890,000 (w/ Specs)

Since Peugeot’s arrival into the Philippines, they’ve always vowed to get the Japanese’s lunch money. They’ve tried it all—from the introduction of a mild hybrid diesel to the expansion of its product portfolio which included the likes of the 208 GTi, 301, and 308. Suffice to say, they weren’t that successful, limited only to niche player status outsold even by the likes of Volkswagen.

The mu-X Boondock is fresh off the assembly line and Isuzu Philippines is already giving massive discounts on their limited edition 7-seater. Launched just last week (complete specs and brochure here), IPC is extending their “I Love Isuzu” promo for the mu-X Boondock as well.

Isuzu Philippines Corporation sponsored the Rally Driving Immersion Project or RDIP where motoring media personalities were able to get behind the wheel of a rally-prepped truck to experience the thrills of rally driving.

Ford Philippines is bringing its experiential test drive event to key provinces in the country to reach more customers and make them experience driving a Ford vehicle using a customized driving course.

Following Volvo’s global commitment to electrify its entire line-up (and to have fully-electric cars making up 50 percent of its sales by 2025), Volvo Cars Philippines is the first carmaker locally to launch plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

Michelin through its Chief Representative to the Philippines Michael Nunag announced that PlayStation has selected Michelin as “official tire technology partner” for its Gran Turismo driving simulator franchise.

This is Your First Look at the 2020 Isuzu D-Max

Here is the 2020 Isuzu D-Max fully unveiled (10/11).

Isuzu has given the world the first glimpse of the all-new, next-generation D-Max pickup truck which will be shown in full in two weeks’ time. Details are scarce at the moment, but what is known is that this model marks a departure from Isuzu’s collaboration with General Motors. Instead, this model will benefit with input from fellow Japanese carmaker, Mazda.

Toyota Motor Philippines is clearing out its inventory, and because of that, big savings are to be had on the Vios, Innova, Fortuner, Avanza, Corolla Altis, Hilux, RAV4, Wigo, Yaris, and Rush. How big? How about getting the Vios 1.5 G for less than P 970,000?

With confirmation that the Mazda CX-8 is arriving to the Philippines (check out our first drive here), it becomes an interesting alternative to the usual suspect of mid-sized SUVs. While the local spec and pricing has yet to be announced, it’s understood that Mazda Philippines is toying to bring in just one variant of its three-row crossover.

Mitsubishi of late has always iterated that they’ll be focusing on two product segments: small cars and utility vehicles. Now, what if you combine the two? Well, that’s what the upcoming Super Height K-Wagon Concept is.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines is rolling out the red carpet for out-of-warranty vehicles with their Mitsubishi Fast Lane program.

Further developing the sales and service experience of its customers in the Southern Tagalog region, Foton Philippines (FMPI) started the month of October with the grand re-launching of its GMA Cavite dealership. This facility is now managed by one of the leading players in the automotive industry, the Autohub Group of Companies.

Caltex and in partnership with HSBC, announces its newest raffle promo ‘Fuel Up and Fly’ beginning today up to December 31, 2019. The promo is open to all primary and supplementary HSBC active credit card holders.

The keijidōsha or kei car is synonymous with Japan. Often boxy little things, they’re the smallest highway-legal passenger car on offer there. Of late though, the kei car has seen reduced government subsidies that lessen their advantage over regular-sized cars. In fact, currently, only Daihatsu, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki are producing their own kei cars with Nissan, Mazda, and even Toyota selling re-badged models.

For those of us who test drive cars regularly, seeing the owner’s manual is a luxury. Carmakers often remove anything that isn’t bolted down (SD cards, power point covers, owner’s manual) for fear that these little things might end up on eBay or Carousell (yes, there are some journos that do this). Mazda though has trusted us with the owner’s manual for the all-new Mazda3 (full review soon), and this is what we found.

F*ck Rotaries, Mitsubishi is Going to Experiment Using a Gas Turbine Engine

As the general public gained a fascination with aviation in the 1960s, several car companies came up with wacky concept cars powered by a gas turbine engine. Well, it seems automotive engineering is just like fashion because Mitsubishi is going all turbine with the MI-TECH Concept which they will unveil at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The refreshed 2020 Mitsubishi Montero Sport is finally in the Philippines. It’s the same one launched in Thailand a few months back with one important difference: there’s no 4WD. That’s right, if you’re looking for the top-trim 4WD GT, you’ll have to wait for the first quarter of 2020. For now? There’s only the 2WD GLS and GT.

First Drive: 2020 Mazda CX-8 2.5 Skyactiv-G AWD

The story of the CX-8 is a rather unremarkable one. Mazda once had an MPV, the Mazda8, which was actually marketed with the tagline, “the idea of a sportscar – inherited by a minivan.” It was, in every sense of the word, a mom mobile that that very tagline was delivered by a middle-aged woman in Japan. But as the company shifted its attention to all things KODO and Skyactiv, they found themselves with an opportunity: should they make something pleasing to soccer moms or should they make a three-row SUV? Focused group studies and likely, simpler engineering costs dictated the latter, and thus, the CX-8 was born.

Ford Philippines opens the final quarter of 2019 with the biggest cash discount ever for the Ford EcoSport which sees its price drop to just P 840,000 only this October.

Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) is announcing cash discounts, low cash-out, and low monthly amortization deals on the Civic 1.8 S CVT and the CR-V Touring Diesel this October.

Hyundai and Lalamove, have announced a partnership that allows business owners to get the most out of their Hyundai H-100 trucks. The program aims to empower micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMSEs) and large corporations alike by reducing transportation costs, expanding consumer reach, and helping ensure on-time deliveries.

Ford Asia Pacific Shuts as Carmaker Announces Joint Venture with India's Mahindra

Ford Asia-Pacific is no more. Necessitating quicker decisions in a fast-changing market, Ford has announced that it is combining 100 markets including India, Australia, ASEAN, Middle East, Africa, and Russia markets into the newly established International Markets Group or IMG.

After its preview at the 2019 Cebu Auto Show, The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI) is now ready to officially launch its newest offering: the sub-compact MG 5. The launch of this fully-loaded sedan is happening at the Glorietta 2 Activity Center, and you’re invited.

Nissan has developed a new way to use robots to make car parts out of sheet steel, a breakthrough that could make replacement parts for discontinued models more widely available for customers.

Update: Motor Image Pilipinas issued a correction with their stated SRPs. Unfortunately, this does not make the Outback cheaper than the Forester anymore.

Motor Image Pilipinas, the exclusive distributor of Subaru is clearing house this holiday season with generous deals on their entire line-up, including the WRX STI.

The most complaint with the government’s PUV Modernization program is how unaffordable it is to some cooperatives. Now that Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) is entering the game, the Korean carmaker is bringing forth an offering that’s much more affordable yet remains people-centric, fuel-efficient, and innovative.

When the all-new Mazda3 came out, Mazda talked about how they spent time making it more refined, comfortable, and all that. Of course, for enthusiasts, they only had one question in mind: when are they going to come up with a go-fast version? While that’s still going to take some time, the introduction of this, the Mazda3 TCR race car puts down a solid foundation that Mazda is, at least, ready to build some fast things once more.

Honda Launches New BR-V and Civic Limited Edition Variants

Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) is introducing new limited edition variants of the BR-V and Civic for 2019 with enhancements suiting the needs of trendy and active Filipino customers.

After a premature announcement two years ago and an announcement that it’ll be assembled alongside the CX-5 in Malaysia, Mazda Philippines is confirming that it is expanding its CX-line of vehicles with the 2020 CX-8 (check out our first impressions). Sitting between the CX-5 and CX-9 in size (and likely price), the CX-8 is a new option in the growing number of three-row SUVs in the market.

Filipino car buyers are a cruel, finicky bunch. When Kia’s then distributor launched the fourth-generation Sportage in 2016, they brought along a well-loaded GT-Line trim equipped with a diesel engine and all-wheel drive. It sure had all the ingredients for success until everyone saw the price tag: P 1.795 million. After that, the complaints all rolled in: too expensive, ill-equipped, etc. Well, here’s news for you: three years later, the refreshed Sportage is out. Now sold by Kia’s new distributor, guess what? It’s actually more expensive, and that’s not even considering it’s lost all-wheel drive in the process.

This is the refreshed Mazda CX-5. Coming in for the 2020 model year, you won’t be finding any changes on the exterior. Instead, the changes are all happening inside. And frankly, they’re so minor that only owners of the current model will be able to spot easily.

Quick Links

October 14, 2019

October 12, 2019

October 11, 2019

October 9, 2019

October 8, 2019

October 7, 2019

October 6, 2019

October 4, 2019

October 3, 2019

October 2, 2019

October 1, 2019