Motoring Today Column: Festival Notes

Nov 23, 2022

Festival Notes

The Auto Focus Pre-Christmas Test Drive Festival again drew a good number of car buyers and enthusiasts to the Mall of Asia concert grounds looking to compare and contrast choice vehicles.

This confirms the belief of automakers that our long celebration of Christmas is the peak season for buying cars.

Quite notable is that more people came to test drive offerings of automakers to the pre-Christmas edition of the Auto Focus test drives festival than the one held during the summer.

The automakers and distributors that participated in this pre-Christmas festival noted a lot more inquiries as well as actual test drives with solid chances for reservations and actual sales.

The festival also somehow confirms the belief of automakers that the future of personal mobility is electric.

Many of those who crowded the booths of automakers at the festival inquired about and test drove full electric and hybrid vehicles.

Perhaps the rise in the cost of fuel fueled this interest.

The Nissan Leaf got a good workout over the four days of the festival.

So did the W5 of WM Motor Philippines.

The hybrid variants of the Toyota Corolla Cross, the Camry and the RAV4 also were in-demand for test drives.

We certainly won't be surprised if the holiday season will see lot more full electrics as well as hybrids on the road after during the holidays and after.

The festival also seemed to validate the automakers' view that people are more interested in SUVs, crossovers, MPVs, vans and pickups than passenger sedans.

There has been a slew of new and upgraded variants of the light commercial vehicles launched heading into the final months of the year.

And these got the most number requests for test drives.

Over four days, the Ford booth was busy fielding requests for test drives of the Next Generation Everest and the Ranger.

Drawing crowds to the Mitsubishi booth were the RalliArt variants of the Montero Sport and the Strada.

The Staria van and the Stargazer MPV were the stars at the Hyundai booth with the Creta compact SUV and the Tucson midsize SUV also getting requests for drives.

Changan also was visited a lot during the festival, many wanting to discover the capabilities and comforts in the CS35 and the CS55.

MG Philippines showcased its edgy crossovers-the MG ZS and the HS which also provided a lot of seat times for would-be buyers and just plain auto enthusiasts.

The Subaru WRX proved irresistible to enthusiasts. So was the XV. Many wanting to experience Subaru's renowned boxer engines with symmetrical all-wheel drive tech.

Also seemingly irresistible was the Jimny which saw queues forming at the Suzuki booth while the XL7 also got a share of the action on the test course.

The Civic bucked the trend for SUVs being first choice at the booths. And it was the HR-V which joined the Civic at the top 2 draws at the Honda corner.

Finally those who came to visit to check out and test drive the vehicles, many of them with families especially during the weekend, appreciated how festival provided the convenience of seeing, testing and comparing a wide variety of competing car models and deal offers in one venue.

LRT Fare Increase

Talks of looming fare increase in theLight Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 by December certainly got the inevitable violent reaction from commuters already reeling from rise in the cost of commodities.

Light Rail Transit Authority administrator Hernando Cabrera immediately addressed the complaints and fears of a fare increase as early as December in a press conference.

Cabrera was quoted as saying LRT fares won't be raised anytime soon, pointing out that fare adjustment proposals take a long time to evaluate, process, and implement.

Fears of a looming fare increase in LRT lines may have been caused by reports of LRTA discussing ways to augment government transport subsidies during its annual corporate planning sessions.

Cabrera reiterated that Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has directed the authority not to approve fare hikes as long as train operators can shoulder operating costs.

The last time fare adjustments on the LRT lines were made was in 2015.

EDSA Carousel Gift

The Department of Transportation has a gift for commuters for the Yuletide season.

From December 1 to 30, 2022 the EDSA Carousel will be making free rides available to commuters 24/7.

The Department of Transportation said this is in anticipation of transport woes and traffic congestion during the Christmas holiday rush.

At present the Libreng Sakay program on the EDSA Carousel is implemented only from 4AM to 11PM and is set to expire at the end of the year.

Government has allotted 1.4 billion pesos to extend the Libreng Sakay program until the end of the year.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista estimates that what remains of the allocation will be enough to last until the end of the year even with the extended hours during December.

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments & inquiries:

(email) sunshine.television@yahoo.com

(website) www.motoringtoday.ph

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Butch Gamboa graduated from the College of Arts and Letters of the University of Sto. Tomas. It was a course that should have been preparatory to a law degree, but the call of broadcasting aborted his plans.

At the age of 16, while still a student, Butch tried his hand at disc jockeying, landing a job at Mareco Broadcasting Network’s AM stations DZBM and DZLM. From there, Butch moved on with his illustrious career as a popular disc jockey, riding the airwaves of Bob Stewart’s middle-of-the-road music at DZXX, and ending his disc jockeying career at ABS-CBN’s DZYL and DZQL.

From there, he stayed on with ABS-CBN, covering live the proceedings at the Manila Stock Exchange and eventually entered into the world of television sales as an account manager for the premier channel of ABS-CBN Channel 2.

In the early 70’s, at the outbreak of Martial Law, Butch was one of the thousands of professionals who woke up jobless when then President Marcos declared the new status of the nation. With the closure of ABS-CBN, Butch ventured into different fields outside of broadcast. He tried his hand and with ease and success at export (Costume jewelry), real estate (brokerage), and restaurants (fast food).

In 1987, after the revolution, with the broadcast industry back to its free state, and with its irresistible call ringing in his ears, Butch made his inevitable comeback and pioneered in a local motoring show, producing Motoring Today on Channel 4 and co-hosting with local motor sports’ living legend Pocholo Ramirez.

After 4 years, he ventured into another pioneering format by producing and hosting Business & Leisure, which was originally aired on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2. The format eventually espoused similar ones in other different channels. But the clones in due course faded away leaving the original staying on airing on Channel 4 and eventually on Shop TV on Sky Cable’s Channel 13.

The following year, the pioneering spirit in Butch spurred him to produce another TV show, Race Weekend, also on Channel 4, covering circuit racing at the Subic International Raceway after the motor sport’s hiatus of 17 years. But when similar shows with duplicated formats sprouted, he decided to give way and ended the program after a year, although still enjoying unparalleled viewership.

In 1998, when the local automotive industry was in a slump, Butch contributed his share to help the ailing industry by producing another popular motoring-related show, this time exclusive to the automobile and its industry—Auto Focus, which became a vehicle for local automotive assemblers and importers to showcase their products and dwell on the industry’s latest technological developments.

In 2003, Butch teamed up with his brother, Rey Gamboa who was a former Shell executive and presently one Philippine Star’s business columnist to co-produce and co-host the TV show Breaking Barriers on Channel 13. It is a talk show that features guests who are in the news and in the middle of controversies. The program ventures to draw deeper insights into current issues to learn how they impact to our daily lives.

Today, Motoring Today on its 28th year of service to the general motoring public still enjoys its unprecedented loyal vierwership nationwide while Auto Focus, after 16 years has firmly established its niche viewership among automobile enthusiasts and on the other hand Business & Leisure is on its 24th year dishing out current business issues and lifestyle features.

Today, aside from writing weekly columns for the Philippine Star (Motoring Today on Wednesdays and Business & Leisure on Saturdays) and executive producer / host of weekly TV shows (Motoring Today, airs Sundays on Solar Sports Channel 70, Business & Leisure, airs Tuesdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13 and Auto Focus airs Thursdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13, Ray Butch Gamboa is currently the Chairman and CEO of Sunshine Television Production and Marketing Services Corp., President of Gamcor Management and Development Corp., Chairman of Asia-Pacific Realty Corporation, President and Chairman of Socio-Communication Foundation for Asia and Founding Chairman of the Society of Phil. Motoring Journalists (SPMJ)