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IN a bid
to make their vehicles stand out in a homogeneous and
crowded market, car designers, dealers, as well as
owners, are coming up to the state of gadgetry, from
pop-up navigation systems and music-storing hard drives,
tilting LCD monitors, TVs, video games, DVDs, iPod-supporting
entertainment system to wireless Internet networking and
other extras.
The 3rd
Baguio City Auto Show 2008, held from March 7 to 9,
featured numerous other concept cars geared toward an
active lifestyle, performance or even nostalgia, whether
it be a luxury car, a vintage car or an entry-level
vehicle.
“The car
industry now is getting more powerful. The high-tech
gadget invasion is now aiming at a moving target as
well. So it’s not just a car anymore. It’s more on
becoming a lifestyle product,” said Ryan Cu, head event
organizer of the auto show.
Cu said
the auto show aims at showing off car audio systems,
aftermarket products, cars and automotive technologies
available in the car industry. Participants came from
Northern Luzon, as well as from Manila.
“We see
a bright future for the car industry and expects it to
shift into high gear in the coming years,” Cu told the
BusinessMirror.
Among
the car brands shown during the three-day show were
Honda, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Isuzu, Nissan Motor
Philippines, General Motors, Universal Motors, Ford plus
Mazda, Audi, Morris Cooper, Volkswagen, Toyota and Land
Cruiser, among others.
Cars and
automotive technologies from start-ups and established
aftermarket parts makers are abundant at this auto show.
They’re coming in such variety that they encapsulate
many of the advances seen elsewhere.
Features
such as Apple iPod music-player connectors and
satellite-radio receivers, both of which offer ways to
listen to music, are becoming popular, said Martin Reyes
of Bagspeed Autogroup.
Reyes,
an audio-system designer who installed an audio and
entertainment system in a Honda Civic VTEC-3, said that
beyond the exterior and interior designs of a vehicle
should be a great sound system.
He said
a simple sound system setup costs a minimum of P65,000,
which includes a radio with USB-compatible laptop,
tilting and swindling LCD monitors and DVD. Sound system
might go as high as P400,000 depending on the car model
and the gadgets to be installed, Reyes said.
“The
integration of the features and technology is
remarkable,” said Ron Reyes, owner of the Honda Civic
VTEC-3 and second runner-up winner of the Best Tuner
System during the show.
One
highlight feature of Reyes’s car is that he can browse
the Internet in the vehicle through the use of a
cellular broadband signal and Wi-Fi relayed to a
portable computer.
Like
Reyes, 27-year-old Jack Suello has garnered many awards
locally and in auto shows held in Manila for the superb
entertainment system with his Ford Expedition. He was
the overall champion in a car show held in Baguio last
year.
“It is
becoming a lifestyle for me. Every now and then I see to
it that I am updated with the trend,” Suello said,
admitting that he had already spent P380,000 for his
vehicle’s sound system only.
But no
one seems to have a great answer to the question of
whether adding more technological choices to moving
vehicles will increase the dangerous problem of driver
distraction.
Among
other cars displayed is the 1974 VW Super Beetle, which
has been restored to its former glory by DuPont Paint.
Even
off-road enthusiasts—Jeep and Toyota Land Cruiser,
through Jeff’s Off-Road Shop—hosted an indoor test
track, complete with a 20-foot-high mountain, where
consumers were able to test out their vehicles. |
