Enter a showroom, any kind of showroom, and you’ll immediately get whiffs of lies and deceit.  And it’s not the plastered smiles on the receptionists or even the sales personnel.  It goes much deeper than that.  I’m talking about the sales pitch—the kind of talk that promises you a whole new experience.  Cars can promise you performance numbers that rival Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari or deodorants that make girls go ga-ga over you.  But, do they ever happen?  Did the last juicer you purchased give you houses of pulping fun?  Did the last 15-peso burger meal really look like a pound big like it did on the store poster?  I didn’t think so.  This is the sort of harsh reality that faces consumers everyday, and the sort that ultimately leads to a dismayed buying public.

Luckily though, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  In this market of unsatisfied customers stand a breed of products that cater more to sensibilities rather than the senses.  There are no pretenses here, just plain good old-fashioned values.  For instance, a Swiss watch may give you time, but so does a reliable Casio watch.  It may not be as flashy, but it’s built like a tank and will probably last longer than you.  And then, there’s the case of the Chevrolet Optra—a car that’s not exactly a standout in terms of styling or performance, but a solid long-term investment nonetheless.  It’s a car that’s affordable to run and maintain, well-built, nicely equipped, impeccably finished—in short, everything a car needs to be.

If market share were the sole indicator, then the Optra is on the up and up.  It’s a consistent seller, threatening the likes of Honda and Toyota, though certainly not on the areas of drive train and looks—the main forte of the Japanese.  Instead, Chevrolet has given the Optra with something more than meets the eye: value.  Its interesting formula of low-price plus high-kit is certainly a big factor for the Filipino consumer.  Imagine this: for 800,000 pesos, the range-topping 1.8 LT is 15,000 pesos cheaper than the mid-range Honda Civic VTi-S and a whopping 100,000 pesos south of a similarly-engined Corolla Altis 1.8G or Nissan Sentra 180GT.  And yet, it gets everything on the other’s wish list as standard: leather seats, a Blaupunkt radio with 5-disc in-dash CD changer, steering wheel audio controls, silvery stuff on the instrument cluster, fake timber, split-fold seats and keyless entry with remote trunk opening.  In short, it’s a mid-range luxury car for all but in size and price.

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