Tomorrow, April 24 is the start of a four-day dream world for car enthusiasts, those contemplating on buying a new automobile or those just plain curious to find out and experience the latest automobile models currently available in the market.
For all these people all roads lead to the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds for the initial staging of the Caltex Auto Focus Summer Test Drive Festival.
Organized by Sunshine Television (STV) primarily to help further perk up the local auto industry, the event earns the distinction of managing to get together in one venue keenly competing automobile importers and manufacturers for the common goal of helping the market know more intimately the present line up models by having them available for public test drive based on the common belief that there’s no better way to sell cars than having buyers test drive the vehicles and fairly give them the opportunity to compare these vehicles before finally deciding on which one to chose.
A unique concept of the event is the option given to participating car companies to have their vehicles test driven inside the event venue where a test drive course has been designed and laid out to bring out a vehicle’s attributes pertaining to maneuverability, safety, riding comfort and parking ease.
To test a vehicle’s maneuverability, a slalom run is included in the exercise followed by a stretch of simulated humps to bring out the vehicle’s capability to provide riding comfort despite running through an uneven road surface. And to demonstrate the vehicle’s response to an emergency stopping situation, a breaking exercise forms part of the test drive and to bring out the vehicle’s ease in parking the run is capped with parking maneuvers.
And these test drive maneuvers shall all be within the confines of the event’s venue, conceived to partly address security issues to include test drive vehicle’s damage concerns. In the event of possible wayward driving, test drive vehicles could only collide with rubber pylons generously provided through the safety-oriented participation MNTC or the Manila North Tollways Corporation.
To inject further excitement to the event, a competition would be held among those who would test drive with the winner being the driver who comes closest to the tract’s prescribed lap time. There will be a daily winner during the four-day competition that would be presented with prizes ranging from Caltex fuel cards to gift items coming from the participating car company.
Another unique feature of the Caltex Auto Focus Summer Test Drive Festival is that the test drive course shall be opened up to 9 o’clock in the evening for the benefit of those who would come late due to the agonizing traffic and those coming late from their offices from across town. And this is without safety worries, as the test drive course shall be well lighted during the evening runs.
The local auto industry’s presence is highlighted by the participation of thirteen car importers and manufacturers. Although the number has been deliberately limited based on a “first come, first serve basis†to allow ample space for the test drive tract that’s situated right in the middle of the venue.
Some of the remarkable automobile models that’ll be available for test drive starting tomorrow include:
BMW 3-Series, XI, X3 from Asian Carmakers Corporation.
The Car Covenant Company shall have the Chevy Trailblazer, Spin, Colorado lined up for the public.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines will definitely have the Montero Sport, Strada and Mirage G4.
The newly re-launched Soul shall lead Columbian Autocar’s line up of remarkable Kia models, which shall also include Rio, Carens and Sorento.
Lexus-Manila shall concentrate on the ES 350.
Eurobrand Distributor is bannering the Peugeot 3008, 5008, 508 GT.
Honda Cars Philippines’ newly launched models like the all-new City, Civic, Jazz, CR-Z will surely be there.
Newly formed Nissan Philippines, Inc. would be very proud to offer the Shelphy and the Altima to all those who would be interested to know these models better.
Isuzu Philippines will surely have its hands full of those interested to test drive their newly launched DMax together with their upgraded Alterra and Crosswind.
The new kid on the block, Solar Transport would now be able to accommodate those who wish to know their BYD cars better by having the S6, L3 available.
Hyundai Asia Resources have announced that their Hyundai Accent, Santa Fe, Elantra will definitely be available for test drive.
The newly launched all-new Altis, the Wigo and the Yaris shall top-bill Toyota Motor Philippines’ line up plus Vios.
And Ford Philippines will definitely have the newly-launched EcoSport to be joined by the Fiesta and Explorer.
So before you let go of your well-earned money to buy your new car, make sure you test-drive all the models that would fit your budget and need. It’s only after trying all the rest that you can be sure that you’ll be getting the right one.
The Caltex Auto Focus Summer Test Drive Festival starts tomorrow, Thursday up to Sunday (April 24-27) at the concert grounds of the SM Mall of Asia from 11am to 9pm.
All-video autom obile websiteZ There’s no more reason for any car enthusiast to miss weekly features of new model production models, customized car show winners, the latest auto industry news, out of town test drives, car launches, panel interviews of auto industry top executives and leaders, head-to-head comparison of current automobile models and all the other features of the TV show Auto Focus because starting this week Auto Focus ONLINE starts airing.
Just log on to www.autofocus.com.ph, the country’s first all-video automobile website anytime of the day for extensive information regarding the automobile and the auto industry.
Happy Motoring!!!
For comments (email) motoringtoday-star@stv.com.ph / sunshine.television@yahoo.com