MG PHILIPPINES sold a total of 5,085 vehicles on its first year of operations -- averaging 400 units a month -- led by the MG ZS crossover SUV, which accounted for over half of MG sales here in 2019.

ALMOST TWO WEEKS have passed since the historic Senate hearing for the legalization of motorcycle taxis. In internet speak, that means four to five different news cycles; or in the old language, yesteryear’s news. But here’s why you should still care.

RECOVERING from the effects of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), which helped to contract the market in 2018 due to a general increase in vehicle prices, the Philippine automotive market finished 2019 with a 2.4% growth rate capped by a strong fourth quarter from most industry players.

Yesterday I saw an ad on my Instagram from a website that offers international driver’s permit (IDP). They’ll mail you a printed one, and a digital one in two hours with the fees going from US$56 (one year) to US$66 (three years) for both.

THE ASSOCIATION of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (AVID) registered sales of 8,089 units in December 2019, representing a 12% increase versus the same month in 2018. The full-year total was 87,984 units -- a decrease of 0.5% compared to 88,430 units sold the previous year.

IT’S HARD to find a country more intriguing than the so-called “land of fire and ice” -- a place born out of volcanic eruptions over millions of years, formed somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean and just barely skipping the Arctic Circle region.

TOYOTA has rolled out its crystal ball and showed a glimpse of the future with the unveiling of plans to build a prototype “city of the future” on a 70-hectare site on no less than the base of spectacular Mt. Fuji in Japan.

ISUZU PHILIPPINES Corporation (IPC) early this week donated one unit of Isuzu D-MAX 4x4 LS MT to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), Laguna Chapter, at the IPC Plant in Biñan Laguna, for the Taal Volcano eruption relief efforts mobilization. Additional supplies were also provided such as bottled water, toiletries, clothes and other essentials to alleviate the condition of evacuees and affected individual.

HYUNDAI Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of the leading Korean automotive brand in the Philippines, ended the year strong with 2.9% growth in December 2019 or 3,163 units sold versus the same month last year.

SINCE MG came under the distributorship of The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI) in October 2018, the brand’s nationwide dealership network has experienced a rapid expansion. In just over a year, MG Philippines has opened a total of 18 dealerships throughout Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. And to open a new year and decade, MG Philippines is proud to announce the latest dealer principals to sign on with MG, demonstrating their trust and the confidence in this British heritage brand, its modern, stylish, and attainable products, the growth and foreseeable potential of the MG brand, and the very capable team at TCCCI behind it all.

LAST MONDAY, AC Motors executives, together with 30 volunteer members of the Philippine motoring media and through the Ayala Foundation, conducted relief operations for Taal evacuees. The group consisted of 32 vehicles -- 10 brand new Kia K2500 Kargo and Karga units and 22 demo units from Volkswagen, Kia, Maxus, Honda and Isuzu – all loaded with relief goods, consisting of assorted necessities such as mattresses, blankets, towels, sleeping mats, hygiene kits, underwear, and sacks of rice for at least 1,200 families. Participants for the relief efforts converged at the Honda Magallanes dealership early Monday morning for a pre-departure briefing given by members from the Ayala Foundation.

THE COUNTRY’S leading motorcycle manufacturer, Honda Philippines, has raised the bar once again in the scooter segment with the launch of the sporty all-new Airblade150.