There’s a growing trend within the Philippine automotive industry that you might have noticed: Major brands injecting new life into their local lineups using more affordable Chinese-made cars.
Volkswagen Philippines spearheaded the movement when it replaced its entire Philippine stable with cars from the People’s Republic, and a revamped Kia Philippines and Hyundai Asia Resources followed not long after with the Soluto and Reina subcompact sedans, respectively.
Is this a bad thing? We think not.
We’ve driven a ton of these new arrivals, and we have to say the only quality they share with Chinese cars that have been ridiculed in the past is their place of origin. Toxic smell? Not really. Shoddy build quality and squeaky parts? Nope. Components breaking and falling off during lend-out periods? None yet, thankfully.
So far so good.
This got us thinking: What about Chinese-branded cars? Plenty of new players have entered over the past few years, and more established names are expanding their lineups. Their presence is arguably felt now more than ever. Hell, Miss Universe Catriona Gray was even being driven around in one—that has to count for something, right?
Cars like the Soluto and the Santana are proof that quality automotive products can come from China. But what about brands? Let us know in the poll below whether or not you think Chinese car brands are beginning to step up their game in the Philippines:
