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3 weeks ago | 
topgear.com.ph | BYD Philippines |Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
I was at a restroom in a gasoline station along NLEX, taking a bio break during an 800+km media drive for the BYD Seal 5, when a Top Gear reader greeted me while I was washing my hands. We chatted a bit as we headed back to our cars. I said we were test-driving the new BYD Seal 5. His eyes lit up, and he asked if the Chinese subcompact was okay. I said it packed a lot of features for its price.
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1 month ago | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
If you’ve been eyeing a Toyota Supra but want the thrill of manually shifting your gears, that or you need more leg workouts, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has quietly released the manual version of its iconic sports car.
It’s a quiet reveal because there’s no launch, lunch, press release, or even a message that the much-awaited (for some) manual Supra is here. And no effort is needed because other than having a stick shift, there is nothing new about the new Supra.
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1 month ago | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
There may still be some teething problems, but the EV revolution may finally be happening. We’re seeing more electrified models every year, even as the EV infrastructure struggles to catch up.
But most new EVs are still cars and crossovers, with some trucks and sports cars trickling in. As for vans, they’re either cool and playful like the VW ID.Buzz, or workhorses like electrified versions of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and the Ford Transit.
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1 month ago | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
At the EV Day 2025 in Tarragona, Spain, Kia revealed two new electric vehicles, the EV4 sedan and the EV4 hatchback. As their nomenclature suggests, these compacts are the smaller siblings to the existing EV9, EV6, and EV5 electric cars. The EV4s are Kia’s first electrified sedan and hatchback, targeting customers looking for non-SUV body types.
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1 month ago | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
In a massive stadium in Tarragona, Spain, 200 media participants from 37 markets (including South Korea and yours truly) gathered to witness Kia’s electrified vision for the future. Kia Corporation calls it 2025 EV Day, and it is the second such event in the company’s history. Three new EV models were revealed, expanding Kia’s electrified portfolio and making them more accessible to the market in general.
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2 months ago | 
topgear.com.ph | BYD Philippines |Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
BYD Cars Philippines and ACMobility, the official distributor of BYD passenger vehicles in the country, have just announced that they sold 4,780 BYD passenger vehicles, commanding an 82% share in the Philippine electrified vehicle market for 2024.
The BYD Seagull, Dolphin, Atto 3, T3, Seal, Han, and Tang comprised 2,078 of this sales figure. With a 69% market share in the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) segment, BYD leads the country in BEVs sold in 2024.
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2 months ago | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
Cebuanos will be glad to know they have access to new BMWs again. Visayan Motor Works (VMW) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, has opened the newest BMW dealership in Cebu. This move strengthens BMW's presence down south.
PHOTO BY Dinzo Tabamo
“We are thrilled to bring the BMW to Cebu through Visayas Motor Works,” said Spencer
Yu, President of SMCACDC and VMW.
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2 months ago | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
The road to half a million continues as the Philippine automotive industry reached 467,252 units sold in 2024, according to the combined report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA). This is up 8.7% from 429,807 units in 2023. If vehicle sales grow at the same rate this year, we will definitely see the 500,000 mark breached in 2025.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
What is a good daily driver? For most Filipino motorists it has to be pleasing to look at, decent in size, have a good feature set, and be relatively affordable. It’s a tall order, especially the last factor. But the Kia Sonet seems to have ticked these boxes since it was released.
Is it really an underrated gem or just another option in an ever-increasing sea of crossovers in our market? Let’s see.
Styling
PHOTO BY Leandre Grecia
It’s an easy 10/10, many would agree.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
topgear.com.ph | Dinzo Tabamo |Anton Andres
We know the Toyota Land Cruiser, also known as the LC300, is popular. Who wouldn’t want one? It’s macho, it’s powerful, it’s stately, and it has undeniable cachet.
In our market, the demand for the new LC300 is legendary. At some point there was no more waiting list; you just signed up for intent and waited for your Toyota sales agent to deliver manna from heaven—heaven being one of Toyota’s factories in Japan.
