HONDA recently reminded people that it has considerable skin in the crossover/SUV game. Amid an undeniable surfeit of car-based sport-utes releases across practically all auto brands, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) unveiled a refreshed version of the HR-V subcompact crossover.

THE second generation of the Isuzu D-Max has been around since 2013 — which isn’t unusual given that the model before it was in the market for a decade. Like its predecessor the current truck can also come with frills normally associated with premium models, but all without losing nothing when it comes to its ability to perform dirty work. What differentiates the latest version of the current model from the previous one is a more advanced diesel mill.

A 1953 Lancia Aurelia PF200C Spider on Aug. 24 entered the Rolex Circle of Champions in The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, one of the highlight events of the Monterey Classic Car Week.

VOLVO Philippines is hyping the three advanced driver assistance systems fitted to the Volvo XC60 SUV, which is available locally with a 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel engine.

THANKS to accessible social-media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, information dissemination has been democratized. What this has done is basically cut the middleman (or traditional media, to be exact). In the past, if people wished to announce anything to the world, they had to go to a radio or TV station and then beg said station to let them go on air for one minute to make their statement (which was usually about a missing relative or a stolen vehicle). Today, anyone — and that literally means anyone (even a jobless freeloader who happens to have a smart phone) — can fire off a similar message online and the message may then be read by folks even halfway across the globe. For free.

LEXUS Philippines last week took the wraps off the new-generation ES, which successfully debuted on the world stage at the Beijing Motor Show in April. Since its first appearance in 1989 as a compact luxury sedan, the ES has cycled through seven generations while growing into the midsize automobile that it is today.

OUR only concern was that it was the monsoon season, and that heavy rains would render provincial roads impassable. Other than that, we were raring to go on a northern sojourn with the new Toyota Vios on Aug. 8-10.

A THOROUGHLY contemporary interpretation of an iconic mid-20^th century vehicle has been in the market since 2015. Last week, one of the model’s 2018 versions was introduced in the Philippines.

ZENITH is celebrating this year’s Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR), set on Sept. 30, by presenting a special Heritage Pilot Type 20 Chronograph Ton Up Black -- a model it also released for the 2016 and 2017 DGR. To help in this year’s DGR fund-raiser, Zenith has come up with five special renditions of the Pilot Ton Up Black called the Limited Edition 2018 DGR Ton Up.

Based on figures released by official channels, the Philippine automotive industry is going through a downturn right now in terms of sales. Compared to January-June numbers in 2017, first-half sales this year are fewer by some 25,000 units. That’s certainly a substantial six-month year-on-year decline by whatever yardstick you measure it against.

HAVING made its world premiere at the New York International Auto Show on March 28, the new-generation Subaru Forester on Aug. 7 marked its arrival in Asia-Pacific markets via a launch program held in Taichung, Taiwan. The latest model will be sold in the Philippines in early 2019.

AS far as per-capita comfort goes, few vehicles come close to Honda’s enduring and endearing Odyssey — the minivan that has been getting people from here to there since 1994. But first, some housekeeping is in order. There are actually two kinds of Odysseys huffing and puffing around the world: a more compact JDM version (which is the one we have here), and a slightly larger one earmarked for the North American market. Our Odyssey “lite” has spanned five generations, the last all-new version unveiled back in 2013 (but our current model has been refreshed); its American sibling’s fifth iteration was released just last year as a 2018 model — 13 inches longer, almost seven inches wider, and 0.8 inch taller than our locally sold Odyssey.