Setting up a car brand from scratch can be a daunting task. Aside from satisfying government and regulatory requirements, anyone planning to bring in a foreign brand will be faced with a number of difficult challenges along the way. That is why most automotive brands prefer to partner with a local distributor. Filipinos who run the distributorship are presumed to know the ins and outs of setting up the company, dealing with government agencies, hiring the right people, establishing systems and p

Chery Automobile, a global automotive brand known in over 80 countries, took the spotlight as the official presidential vehicle partner during the 2023 BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to a press statement from Chery Auto Philippines, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max played a crucial role, escorting leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa throughout the summit. This marked Chery's second appearance at a BRICS summit, following its role in 2017. The Chery Ti

A decade ago, if you told us that Chinese car brands would be among the top 10 sellers in the Philippines, we’d tell you to get lost. But the latest data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. has proven just that – Geely and Foton were 9th and 10th, respectively, in terms of units sold locally in 2022. This is all the more notable given that Geely only started operations locally in September 2019, while Foton had been notorious for producing cheap but questionable-

Disclaimer: Maxus Philippines lent us its Maxus D60 Pro review unit with a full tank of gasoline for one full week. Would you ever imagine that within half a century, mankind would go from landlines and payphones to smartphones and internet messaging and that car technology would go from life-saving seatbelts to collision avoidance? Perspective-wise, it would probably have been difficult for the Volvo engineer who designed the seat belt to imagine a world where computers can avoid collisions alt

The Geely Okavango also called the Proton X90 in other markets, has just undergone crash testing with the ASEAN New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and has passed with flying colors. The vehicle was tested at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) lab in China but under the testing rules and regulations of the ASEAN NCAP under its 2021 to 2025 assessment protocols. These new protocols emphasize the vehicle’s Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), including autonomous emergenc

Hybrid vehicles have slowly begun to become popular in the Philippine market. Automakers are increasingly releasing these kinds of cars, hoping to capitalize on the growing demand. Recent additions to the Philippine market include the likes of the Toyota Corolla Hybrid, Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid, Haval H6 and the Haval Jolion. Meanwhile, the likes of the Geely Okavango and the recently launched Suzuki Ertiga Hybrid are classified as "mild" hybrid vehicles. But just how do mild hybrids work? Wh