Of wishful wish lists and fearless forecast

It’s that time of the year… which means that I can’t be the first Backseat Driver of 2012 without giving my two cents’ worth of wish lists and forecasts.

Last year was a brutal one for the car industry, with no less than an earthquake and a tsunami devastating much of the Japanese car industry and a flood of biblical proportions wreaking the same havoc to the Thai industry – with the subsequent effects still felt to this day.

Honda was particularly hard-hit by the twin tragedies, resulting in massive shortages in spare parts for vehicle assembly on a global scale. Thankfully the car industry is known for its resilience and if there is one car company that can shine in difficult times, Honda certainly can.

I was fortunate to have visited the Tokyo Motor Show and Thai Motor Expo just days apart last month. On display was the all-new next-generation Honda CR-V. Expect it to take a sizable chunk of the compact SUV market when it lands on local shores – which might be sooner than you think.

And which leads me to my wish list. Needless to say, here’s a shout out for the car companies that had a rough year last year. May they more than recover from their losses of 2011 and bring car buyers everywhere a veritable buffet of great cars.

I’m also wishing that chief exec PNoy – or at least an appointee of his – will focus on solving the perennial traffic problem with the same zeal the President has shown in pursuing his cases against GMA and the CJ. He and his team can very well start on the real scourge of traffic and the ultimate embodiment of roadside anarchy and lawlessness, the buses.

I also wish that the government would finally put together a policy that will encourage more carmakers to bring in their ultra-fuel-efficient and environment-friendly hybrids and full-electric models. Only the Toyota Prius and a few Lexus models are the currently available hybrids. Just about every car company has a hybrid (some of them have hybrid versions of current production models like the Honda Civic and Accord, the Toyota Camry, the Ford Escape, and even the Porsche Cayenne) while others have introduced full-electric models like the Chevrolet Volt, Mitsubishi MiEV, and the Nissan Leaf.

With some judicious planning and numbers crunching, the Philippines can become the alternative powerplant capital of Asia, much like Thailand has become the pickup truck capital of the region (thanks to that country’s favorable pickup truck taxes, duties, and incentives). Thai pickups, most of which are the exact same models sold in the Philippines (most of our pickups, in fact, are imported from Thailand) have driven Thailand’s annual total automobile industry sales to the 1 million-unit mark. Local industry sales, on the other hand, have been left way behind at the 120,000-unit annual mark. (And government technocrats wonder why car companies are choosing to expand their operations in our neighboring ASEAN countries. Duh!)

Forecasts? While we’re on the subject of pickups, expect this segment to be the busiest one this year, what with the debuts of the new Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Chevrolet Colorado, and Isuzu D-MAX plus upgrades on the Mitsubishi Strada and Nissan Navara.

Expect also the Korean juggernaut to go from strength to strength. Hyundai can’t seem to do anything wrong and the curvaceous new Elantra is expected to take up where the head-turning Tucson, Sonata, and Accent left off.

Kia is on the same boat, with the Euro-inspired Sportage, Picanto mini-hatch, and soon-to-be-launched Rio subcompact set to take their respective categories by storm.

In the compact sedan category, expect models to get all-new and facelift treatments. Ford will take the wraps off an all-new Focus while upgrades – major and minor – or new variants are due for the Civic, Altis, Lancer, Cruze, and Impreza.

In the big SUV stakes, two new entries make for a higher profile segment: the Ford Explorer and the Chevrolet Traverse, both equally accomplished players but with the Blue Oval truck enjoying an advantage in the price wars. Expect the smart-looking new Explorer to be America’s Next Top Model.

In the world of crossovers (“crossover” being perhaps the most abused, overused and misused term in motoring), expect the recently unveiled Chevy Orlando 7-seater and the upcoming Subaru XV to make a splash, particularly if the latter manages to come in at its projected P1.3 million price point.

For Filipinos who can afford luxury cars, Bonifacio Global City is the place to be this 2012. Mercedes-Benz and Lexus got the luxury car ball rolling a few years back. Last year saw the opening of Audi, Jaguar and Land Rover showrooms (and the year before that, MINI). And as I write this, the countdown is on for the opening of what should be a spectacular Lamborghini showroom at the end of Bonifacio High Street right across Serendra.

Still on luxury cars, expect to see more and more of BMW’s new 1Series sport hatch. The most affordable Bimmer takes the German marque’s most celebrated attributes and serves it up in a delectably sporty and delightfully versatile package. I only wish that the very similarly styled (and sized) Lexus CT200h hybrid will do equally well on the market.

With all these exciting new cars and trucks, perhaps the most anticipated global showroom rollout of 2012 is reserved for the Toyota GT 86/Subaru BRZ twins. The two cars made the biggest splashes in the Tokyo Motor Show and promise to bring pure driving enjoyment to new and much more affordable levels – making them much more relevant to legions of car enthusiasts the world over than the insanely fast Nissan GT-R and Lexus LFA could ever hope to be.

So whether you’re a hardcore car buff or just a casual observer, we’re all set for a banner 2012, automotive-wise.

Happy new year!