VERY, very recently, a bevy of new Chinese car brands have entered our market, some even doing so without actually having a physical presence in the country. This really shows how much of a motor vehicle market the Philippines is for both manufacturers and assemblers.

A month ago, some friends from China reached out to us and asked us to attend the online launch of the new Chinese car brand Omoda. Surprisingly, these Chinese car executives were here first to reinforce the marketing campaign of Chery, another Chinese brand making inroads into our SUV market with hybrid and electric units. The distribution of the vehicles under that brand is led by our good friend Rommel Sytin of Foton fame.