Sunday, August 19, 2012

Philippine International Motor Show 2012

Due to long weekend, we raced to World Trade Center last Sunday to have a view of upcoming and upgraded models of cars being sold in the Philippines by CAMPI members. It was our second PIMS, the first time was in 2008.

The PIMS 2012 was held from 16 to 19 of August at World Trade Center. The entrance fee is 100 pesos for adult and 50 pesos for student with ID while parking fee is 35 pesos at the backside of WTC.


The first car we examined was the Nissan Grand Livina Highway Star. It's the upgraded version of our Nissan Grand Livina. I hope I can find that chrome grill from after market.

Next on my list is the Nissan Juke (concept car)

Nissan X Trail Highway Star




Yes, heard it through the grapevine that Nissan will eventually sell this concept car in the Philippines. Way to go Nissan. Hey, I am not a Nissan fanboy but I am planning to replace our Nissan Grand Livina with the new Nissan X Trail CVT in coming months.







Given a chance, I would purchase this amphibian (upgraded Mitsubishi Strada) or the best selling SUV in Philippines, the Montero Sports. I wish they would sell this color as well. These two; in their upgraded version, will definitely perform well in our flood prone roads in Manila.



There are several great cars from Kia as well. I love the Euro design of the Sportage and the seven seater Sorento. Never mind the boxy Soul. However, wife is not yet prepared to embrace Korean brand.

The Honda exhibit seems dull with its expensive Honda CRV which was built completely in Japan. Their line-up, aside from the boring (?) City and Civic were too pricey compared with their competitors. Including the new Odyssey.

This Toyota Fortuner 2012 is really a truck in disguise. I tried seating in the cockpit, trust me, the interior was huge. I need a driver in case I would buy this truck since it would be very difficult for me to maneuver this truck in some of Manila's narrow roads. Due to its sheer size, its passengers will surely love the space and luxurious interior. Actually, I am considering this truck before but after measuring my garage I have decided to forget it.

We didn't bother exploring the upscale brands such as MB and Lexus, we focused mainly on  mainstream cars. Further, we enjoyed sitting on different cockpits and passengers seats of our prospective SUV/CUV. I learned that most of the upscale variants have an adjustable driver seat which is very useful in case you have height limitation.

Some of the great cars in PIMS

 



Happy Stripes with her "crush." She asked me if I can buy this "tiny" car for her. It's worth a little over half-million pesos. Fortunately, I was able to activate my "deaf" mode thus our conversation ended abruptly, LOL.


The experience was great and exciting. Kids enjoyed the cars while wife was able to compare several SUV. We are planning to replace our family 4year old MPV with a sporty and flood resistant vehicle. We ended-up choosing the X Trail. Unfortunately, AVID members were not included in this exhibit thus we were not able to see the Subarus, Hyundais, Chevrolets and other great cars from CATS.

Finally, after spending on entrance and parking fee, we brought home several giveaways items such as (printed) tote bags, pens calendars and fan. My wife was elated since she needs these bags due to eventual banning of plastic bags in SM. I was excited too since there were many gorgeous ladies around but I knew my wife eyes were stuck on my back. LOL.

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