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Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) was our Katrina but without the warning. It left hundred of vehicles submerged or partially submerged under muddy (and dirty) waters for hours. If you’re car was submerged what do you do? Well, if you have the right type of insurance, you might as well have it totaled by the adjuster. Unfortunately, most people dont even have insurance for this type of damage. (By the way, its called FTVEE or Flood, Typhoon, Volcanic Eruption & Earthquake.) So as a car owner, what are you supposed to do? Above anything else: don’t start your car… (more…)

"Speeding ka sir!"

I’m sure you’ve heard the LTO plan to forcibly place radio frequncy ID (RFID) tags in all cars by October 2009. The upsides, according to the Transportation Assistant Secretary Arturo Lomibao are:

• Renewals of vehicle registration could be made faster/easier.
• It could also be used to easily identify stolen vehicles.
• More efficient traffic law enforcement through the quick identification of “colorum” vehicles. This in turn will help improve traffic flow and lessen air pollution.
• No need to go to LTO to pay traffic violations. Your RFID could be charged directly (contactless payment) after citation — no more confiscation of driver’s license.

Now now lets, go over this point by point: (more…)

After writing about the the possibility of the Mazda2 coming here, Ford now concedes that a new supermini will be coming to India and the Asia Pacific. So instead of the great Fiesta, we’re going to get the car picture above. So far, insiders say the car will be called the Figo, which means “cool” in Italian. Really?
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One encouriging bit of news is that Mazda has decided to sell the Mazda2 (JDM: Demio) in Thailand. While no specific dates were given, this does offer some hope that someone can bring over a viable alternative to the over-boring Yaris and over-priced Jazz. (more…)

So while Honda has announced its plans to stretch some development cycles from 5 years to 7 years, it’s been happy to roll out its product plans for the 2010-2012 model years. Honda is probably one car company that’s pretty faithful to refreshing its lineup every 5 years for cars and 7 years for trucks and vans. Of course, we probably shouldn’t count on the NSX which stayed on for more than 15 years.

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