Disclosure: SMC Asia Car Distributors Corp., the official importer and distributor of BMW in the Philippines, very kindly lent me a 2022 BMW X5 xDrive30d M Sport for five days. The test car came with a half tank of diesel and loaded RFID cards. AutoFun Philippines paid for additional fuel and a car wash. The notion of “premium” has long been a source of contention in various industries and ideologies. It boils down to this – what’s the point of paying more for something that can be bought for a

The BMW X line has been a huge hit for the German carmaker since the first X5 was launched in 1999. These crossovers combine the polished, well-balanced driving dynamics of a BMW with the practicality and utility of a sport-utility vehicle. The BMW X1, which is the littlest of the X lineup, debuted in 2009 and has sold over 1.9 million units worldwide since then. SMC Asia Car Distributors Corp., the official importer and distributor of BMW in the Philippines, debuted the latest X1 on March 2023,

Although the rear-wheel-drive Mazda CX-60 and Mazda CX-90 have been hogging the headlines recently, Mazda has another sharp-looking crossover. The Mazda CX-50 isn’t poised to take on the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz unlike its larger stablemates. Instead, it uses a larger version of the excellent-handling, front-wheel-drive Mazda3 platform and is a bit larger than the Mazda CX-5 crossover. But the mere fact that Mazda has just introduced the CX-50 in China and has assigned local assembly to th

French carmaker Peugeot has been in the Philippines for more than 15 years, but it now seems to be gaining traction under its new distributor Astara. The company said in a December 2022 press statement that it posted a 297-percent growth in sales from November 2021 to November 2022, which it called a record figure for the brand. “The phenomenal growth is attributable to the huge customer demand for its four new nameplates: the PEUGEOT 2008 SUV, PEUGEOT 3008 SUV, PEUGEOT 5008 SUV, and the PEUGEOT

Think Jaguar and many of us recall glamorous luxury cars with acres of polished timber and vast swathes of buttery-soft leather. Whether it was the Mark 2, the Mark X or the XJ6, these sleek saloons, with their plush and stylish cockpits, made their German counterparts from BMW, Audi or Mercedes-Benz look like staid and upright boxes. Younger car lovers, meanwhile, would recognize “Jags” like the record-breaking XJ220 and the F-Type for their standout styling and blistering performance. But for

2022 has a different story to unfold when it comes to the rapidly growing popularity of crossover SUVs as the hype and the demand for such have gotten fiercer than ever before. Some automotive car manufacturers overhaul their other models to enter the crossover SUV category, whilst others offer several models in the same category, to compete with the demand of the people in different parts of the globe. When you pay attention to the cars around the Metro, it is noticeable that there is a certain