Tag: Vernon B. Sarne
What would make you buy an electric vehicle?
As I sat through a presentation at last week’s “Nissan Futures” symposium in Singapore, my thoughts raced back to 1886, when German automotive engineer...
Too much monkey business
The New York Times article was pretty damning. In 2014, three German automakers funded a laboratory experiment in the American state of New Mexico...
Time to make our driver’s license expensive
I don’t know about you, but I got my driver’s license fairly easily. No, I did not pay a fixer to expedite the process,...
First, we park
My former art director and my one-time publisher at the automotive publication I used to work for, have put up a car-themed shirt brand...
The march toward electric cars is accelerating
For years, we’ve been hearing about electrification in the automotive industry and how global markets will soon be awash with electric cars. And for...
DoTr wants you to arrive for work within 35 minutes
The Department of Transportation (DoTr) is on a roll, kicking off 2018 like a possessed government agency that’s racing against time. Well, time is...
Merging LTFRB and LTO is good business sense
Before proceeding, I want to make it clear that I’m not a fan of House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez. Hard to believe in someone...
The year when we started considering not owning a car
If you’ve been following automotive news with any sort of regularity, you’re likely familiar with the concept of autonomous (or self-driving) cars. That is...
Car market trends you can expect with the new taxation scheme
By the time you read this, chances are President Duterte will have already signed into law the newly minted Tax Reform for Acceleration and...
How self-driving cars could change our world
If you haven’t been keeping tabs on the evolution of motor vehicles, you probably don’t know that we’re merely a few years away from...
The importance of trusting your gut
The customer is king, says the people-pleasing entrepreneur who constantly worries that negative feedback could shutter his business. I have personally worked for bosses...
How Chinese automakers are going for world domination
What if we wake up one day and the Chinese already own all of the global car industry? That’s a preposterous thought, isn’t it?...
You can always tell when a new car model is arriving
To be informed about the latest car introductions, consumers essentially rely on advertisements. The problem is that, for many of these new vehicles, the...
When your two passions sit on your wrist
There is a natural link between automobiles and wristwatches. For one, cars are used to race and beat time records all the time; watches,...
How I covered my first Tokyo Motor Show 20 years ago
By the time you read this, I will have arrived in Japan for the biennial Tokyo Motor Show (TMS), whose theme for its 45th...
Made in Japan
Back in 2008, my then-65-year-old and US-based father was about to buy his very first car. He wanted a Ford Mustang, which I thought...
With the Civic Type R, Honda officially reclaims its mojo
In the 1990s, when a dude wanted to impress both girls and other guys, he’d get a Honda Civic. The Toyota Corolla was the...
Let me tell you about my dinner with Maria Ozawa
Last month, Lexus Manila executive vice-president Ichiro Suzuki (yes, same name as the baseball player) sent me a text message, wishing to plan a...
Seriously, why are we still carrying car keys?
The other day, I had an emergency that needed the humble mobility of my personal car. Alas, my key was somewhere else, unwittingly forgotten...
Toyota the chip leader
If you play poker, you know what “chip leader” means. If you don’t, it’s the player with the biggest stack of chips. Which means...
How government can help expedite entry of electric cars
Last week, I attended the global launch of the second-generation Nissan Leaf in Japan. As Filipino journalists were invited to the event, I won’t...
Green with envy
Don't Drink and Write
By Vernon B. Sarne
Nearly six years ago, in December 2011, I drove the Chevrolet Volt electric-hybrid car on public roads in...
