Turbo Zone

For the past few months, news had been rife about the Nissan takeover/merger/comeback. However, both Nissan Motor Philippines Inc. and Universal Motors Corporation had been mum about the issue, with most information coming from unnamed sources. And now, another update from a masked informant: while Nissan in the Philippines will only be one company, it will only be a mere marketing and sales arm – no more assembly operations.

Despite a heavy downpour, Nissan GT-R owners and enthusiasts gathered recently for the annual R’s meeting held at the Fuji Speedway in Japan. Now imagine if the event was held here during this time – waist-deep deluge and what-not – would you risk displaying your prized car or even brave the rains as a spectator?

Source: Speedhunters

By now, the recent backfire of Thailand’s incentive program for first-time car buyers – that left no less than 100,000 indebted customers – has made news all over the world. Question is, how will our neighbor’s dilemma affect our own auto program?To date, the long-awaited road map is still in the works, courtesy of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). It was originally scheduled to be released within the second quarter of the year, but was deferred – yet again – to later this year as DTI needs more time to review the policy and conduct consultations with other government agencies.

If our government has been ultra-cautious in implementing the road map before, how much more now with Thailand’s $2B-disaster? Will this mean a permanent red light for auto incentives and tax breaks in the Philippines?