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By Ulysses Ang
Photos By Ulysses Ang |
motioncars.com
Magazine
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The battlefield of the 1.6-liter sedans has never
been this big. Long before, people
had only two choices: the Mitsubishi Lancer and the Toyota Corolla.
Pretty soon, other car manufacturers came into the picture offering their
own brand of compact-sized family car. Now,
the field has no less than seven competitors: Chevrolet Cassia, Ford Lynx, Honda
Civic, Mazda 323, Mitsubishi Lancer, Nissan Sentra and Toyota Corolla.
This huge array of choices makes buying a compact-sized sedan much more
difficult than shopping for hotdogs at a local supermarket. Moreover, with the collapsing market of the
Philippines, people who normally settle for 2.0-liter cars are often stuck with
buying an economy sedan instead. Which
is why, most of these manufacturers have to place things that aren’t normally
present in cars of this class such as leather seats, wood trim, sun roof and the
like. Now, the question arises: could the perennial
leader, Toyota Corolla be able to meet these two new challenges that threaten
its position as market leader? Frankly, the answer is a disappointing no. Although there’s nothing really bad about the Corolla, there’s nothing really good about it either. If we were to compare the Corolla to a drink, it has to be mineral water—healthy, tasteless, functional and inoffensive. Much like a bottle of Hidden Springs, the Corolla satisfies pretty much the basic needs of the person, without actually being on top of anyone’s favorite drink list (unless you’re Mika Hakkinen). |
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