Ford Philippines also launched their new line-up of Ford Fiesta cars last week with promise to also bring the Fiesta Sport+ with the 1.0L EcoBoost engine later in the year.
There were a total of four (4) variants of the Ford Fiesta made available to Philippine customers.
Ford Fiesta 1.5L Ti-VCT Sport 5-door, Titanium 4-door: Php868,000
Ford Fiesta 1.5L Ti-VCT Trend 5-door and 4-door AT: Php798,000
Ford Fiesta 1.5L Ti-VCT Trend 5-door and 4-door MT: Php768,000
Ford Fiesta 1.5L Ti-VCT Ambiente 5-door and 4-door MT: Php698,000
The 2013 Ford Fiesta will be available in ten (10) colors — Arctic White, Black Mica, Highlight Silver, Metropolitan Grey, Ice Blue, True Red, Aurora Blue, Chili Orange, Phantom Purple and Celestial Blue.
They have a wall display art over at High Street in The Fort if you want to check out the new Ford Fiesta.
Toyota Philippines recently launched the 2013 Toyota Vios, with six (6) different variants of manual and automatic transmissions.
The re-designed Vios looked more masculine with the wide front grills. It has some semblance with the Honda City and the Mitsubishi Lancer EX.
Here’s the complete list of variants and suggested retail prices:
Toyota Vios 2013 1.3 Base Php 592,000
Toyota Vios 2013 1.3J M/T Php 630,000
Toyota Vios 2013 1.3E M/T Php 727,000
Toyota Vios 2013 1.3E A/T Php 762,000
Toyota Vios 2013 1.5G M/T Php 812,000
Toyota Vios 2013 1.5G A/T Php 847,000
These models are all assembled in their Toyota Plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Available colors come in White Pearl, Freedom White, Silver Metallic, Gray Metallic, Black, Red Mica Metallic, Dark Brown Metallic, and Orange Metallic.
Last week, we head out to the beautiful island of Siargao to experience first-hand what the latest model of the Hyundai Santa Fe 2013 has to offer. First of all, I have to say that the venue, as well as the timing, couldn’t have been more perfect to showcase this 3rd Generation mid-size SUV’s prowess.
Introduction
The Santa Fe has come a long way since Hyundai released its first version some 13 years in the past. It has evolved into a masterpiece that not only caught the attention of its target market, but also impressed various car organizations both locally (Car Awards Group Inc.) and abroad (Euro New Car Assessment Program).
In its short tenure, the car has already brought home notable awards such as being named Best Midsize Crossover Car of the Year in the Philippines (2012-2013) by CAGI and bring referred to by EURO NCAP as the Safest Large Off-Road 4×4 in its class.
Conquering Siargao
Earlier I’ve mentioned that Hyundai Philippines couldn’t have picked a better time and place to let select members of the press to test drive the Santa Fe. That’s because we had a little bit of everything as far as the road surface and condition are concerned.
Albeit majority of the main roads are cemented, there are still roads on the island that are rocky, muddy or sandy. But no matter what road we were treading, the Santa Fe was able to provide a smooth ride thanks to a plethora of enhancements for both braking and handling various terrains that Hyundai equipped the car with.
Design
Hyundai prides itself on their in-house design philosophy they like to call as “Fluidic Sculpture”. Call it a marketing gimmick as you wish, but I have to say that the Santa Fe’s curves are undeniably fly and I assume serves a greater purpose as far as aerodynamics is concerned.
The Santa Fe’s interior is as well thought of as its exterior. Most of the things that are usually adjusted (audio volume, driving/braking modes, windows, etc.) by the driver are within arm’s reach. There’s also a fancy dashboard that’s both visually-appealing and functional. Furthermore, it can be customized to display information such as average speed, average fuel consumption and distance to empty.
Another geeky addition to its arsenal is the combo of Proximity Key technology and Engine Start/Stop button. Here’s a short video to give you a better picture of the benefits of these added features.
The inside of the car was spacious; there was ample legroom for both the 2 seats at the front and passenger seats at the middle. However, the foldable seats at the back was a bit of a tight-squeeze and not something that I would advise to be sit on by full-grown adults.
Here are some shots that we took of the Hyundai Santa Fe:
Summary
Just to be clear, I am not a car enthusiast by any means as it’s probably evident on my coverage. But quite frankly, I feel like I don’t need to be one to be able to tell you guys that the Hyundai Santa Fe is a well-rounded SUV.
It definitely has the looks, but more importantly it has all the bells and whistles that one would look for in a car in this class. We also like the idea that Hyundai was able to incorporate today’s technology to the Santa Fe which not only ensure a comfy ride in various terrains, but also add a touch of convenience to the whole package.
Hyundai Santa Fe specs (click to enlarge):
The Hyundai Santa Fe is available in two variants; 2.2L R-eVGT 6AT 2WD and 2.2L R-eVGT 6AT 4WD. The base model of the former will set you back Php1.768M while the latter retails for Php2.228M.
Apparently the number of cars ain’t the only thing that MMDA is looking to minimize to lessen the traffic in EDSA. It turns out; the agency is also considering to regualte the quantity of people that are travelling in a daily basis. The proposal? Reduce the work days in a week, making it 4 instead of 5. But, as always, there’s a catch.
This suggestion came from Atty. Romulo Macalintal who claims that it will not only aid in improving the traffic situation in EDSA, but will also be beneficial for employees.
Once implemented, a typical employee will have to render extra 2 hours on top of the normal 8-hour shift to in-lieu for the lost work day. In exchange, however, employees will enjoy three days of No-Work and All-Play. Furthermore, an employee can cut down on their transportation (maybe even food) costs because they only have to report to work for four days.
So how is this going to help the cause? According to the man behind the thought, by lessening the work days and strategically placing employees’ day-offs, then it might just free up the main road a bit.
But as good as the proposal may appear to be, the likelihood of this plan to eventually materialize is a long-shot. Even if stands a chance, it’s not gonna be an easy undertaking for both MMDA and the other agencies, not to mention private sectors, that will eventually get involved in this matter.
So what do you guys think? Is this suggestion even worth considering or would you prefer this proposal over the 4-digit number coding?
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, or most commonly known as MMDA, is planning to implement a four-digit number coding system which aims to ban your vehicle for two days in a week.
If implemented, vehicles with plate numbers ending with the following digits will be banned on the assigned days:
1, 2, 3, 4 banned on Mondays
5, 6, 7, 8 banned on Tuesdays
9, 0, 1, 2 banned on Wednesdays
3, 4, 5, 6 banned on Thursdays
7, 8, 9, 0 banned on Fridays
MMDA believes that the new system should cut the number of vehicles on the road by 40%. “In 2010 we only had around 1.9 million of registered vehicles in Metro Manila, but now it will reach 2.3 million so maybe we can adopt what is being implemented in Rio de Janeiro sa Brazil which are implementing the four-digit number coding.” said MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino.
The new number coding system is just one of the solutions that the agency is considering to ease the traffic in the Metro.
