By Charles E. Buban
PDI

WITH ABOUT 3.8 MILLION UNITS officially registered at the Land Transportation Office and many more undocumented, the motorcycle is the ride of choice among Filipinos these days.

“There’s no denying that a motorcycle is the country’s most popular form of transport with some 3.8 million units registered as compared to the 1.2 million registered four-wheeled counterpart,” said Suzuki Philippines senior marketing manager Benedict Arreola.

Aside from being fuel-efficient as it can cover 35 to 40 kilometers per liter of gasoline, the scooter’s relatively low price also drives the motorcycles’ popularity as many Filipinos still consider cars a large purchase and not something to rush out and buy at the drop of a hat.

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By Fung Yu
Contributor

Author’s Note: This article uses virtual reality technology to provide an immersive experience. Adobe Flash 10 or higher is required to view the 360-degree VRs. Average VR size is 2.5Mb each.

January 7, 2009 saw Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. launch the all new City. The much anticipated third generation Honda City, following the recent success of the new Jazz, completes Honda’s all i-VTEC line-up and reinforces its claim in the passenger car segment.

Taking inspiration from an arrowshot concept, the new City ascertains sleek and powerful stance from any angle. It features streamlined grille, sharp headlights harmonization, smoother contours and a 15-inch tire size to enhance its overall sporty appearance. With cutting-edge design and technologies that set new standards in its class, the City merges modernism with practicality for an ultimate driving pleasure, forever changing the rules on how subcompacts should be.

Sharing the same powerplant as the Jazz, the i-VTEC engine of the new City delivers maximum power output of 120ps at 6600rpm and 100ps at 6000rpm for the 1.5 liter and the 1.3 liter variants respectively. The i-VTEC engine technology delivers power and torque intelligently, thus contributing to a fuel efficient driving performance. Further fuel efficiency is enhanced with a 5-speed automatic transmission to reduce engine revolution and stress. An F1-inspired paddle shift (available only for the 1.5E variant) enables manual shifting of gears without the clutch to deliver superb driving pleasure of a manual transmission.

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Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Eighty-eight Petron gas stations will offer free service check-ups, as the oil firm kicks off its annual summer motorist assistance program, according to a statement from the company.

Petron’s “Lakbay Alalay” program is on its 23rd year and is the biggest yet in terms of area covered, the statement said.

For the first time, the company has expanded the program outside of Luzon, with 13 stations in the Visayas and 10 stations in Mindanao, it said.

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By Hector Olympus
Contributor

It was in the early years of the new millennium when motorcycles started to swarm over the streets of Metro Manila.

I would assume that whoever was the brainchild in promoting XRMs here in the county would have already earned a big bonus. But this happened as people opted to reduce their cost of spending in transportation. Thus the use of small motorcycles became a hit, particularly to male workers and company messengers.

Rider friends told me that they save a lot since they started using motorcycles. Also, it was easier to wade through traffic using motorcycles.

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By Kerry Sheridan
Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — Faced with the looming threat of bankruptcy, US automakers fretted Monday while White House officials studied the sputtering companies’ finances but reported no moves toward a bailout.

President George W. Bush, who has hinted the government could tap a massive federal rescue package to aid the automakers, said on the way from Iraq to Afghanistan that an agreement on how to remedy the carmakers’ plight was not imminent.

“We’re now in the process of working through with the stakeholders a way forward, and we’re not quite ready to announce that yet,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. But he added that “this will not be a long process because of the economic — the fragility of the autos.”

The president’s remarks came as lawmakers warned that time was running out for the auto giants, and traded blame with auto union chiefs over the collapse last week in the Senate of a short-term rescue bill.

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By Agence France-Presse

TOKYO, Japan — Countries face massive job losses unless they move quickly to provide financial assistance to their carmakers, Renault-Nissan head Carlos Ghosn warned Monday.

“Job destruction will be massive in those countries that do not rapidly help the auto sector to finance itself,” said Ghosn, who turned Nissan around a decade ago.

“It will not be seen immediately, but in a few years,” he told a symposium in Japan.

The global slowdown has badly shaken Japan’s automakers, which in recent years have cashed in on worldwide demand for their cars.

Fears are also mounting of a collapse of the Big Three US automakers, which are pleading for urgent government aid.

ROCK AND ROLL OVER. Cops of the summer capital now drive around in these all-terrain vehicles, part of its modernization drive. But police officers still have no weapon against second-hand smoke. (Photo by Vincent Cabreza of INQUIRER Northern Luzon Bureau)

By Agence France-Presse

BRUSSELS — New car sales in Europe slumped 14.5 percent in October, the European automakers association ACEA announced Friday, as the global financial crisis plunges the region into recession.

The figures marked the sixth consecutive monthly fall in new car registrations which were also down 5.4 percent for the 10 months to October.

“Reflecting the financial and economic crisis, new car registrations have now decreased for six consecutive months,” the association said in a report.

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By Edd Snyder

THE financial storm that has swept across the globe since late summer has touched virtually every segment of the economy. It has hit millions of homeowners and affected thousands of small businesses as well as major corporations and even sovereign governments.

It has had a devastating effect on the auto industry, which has encountered a sales slump unlike any other in more than two decades and 2.5 million jobs in the U.S. are at risk.

The financial crisis is affecting the auto industry because the car business runs on credit, and the credit markets are not functioning as normal.

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INQUIRER.net executive editor Leo Magno takes the 2009 Ford Escape for a spin. In this review, he discusses the smaller, more economical SUV that costs more than P1 million.