Introduction

There’s a general discrepancy between what is and what should be on Philippine roads, and it’s not just that the traffic lights and streetlights should be working but are not. 

What’s just as disturbing is this:  we have a lot of narrow streets, potholes, gridlock, crazy bus and jeepney drivers stopping in the middle of the road, and to top it all off, skyrocketing gas prices.  And what do we see on our roads?  Mitsubishi Pajeros, Ford Expeditions, Toyota Landcrushers, Nissan Patrols and their ilk.  They hog up large sections of road and gulp down gasoline like there was no OPEC. 

Yes, they are amazing vehicles in their own right, and yes, they have a right to be sold and driven around.   However, they belong on Philippine roads as much as Godzilla does in Legoland. 

If there’s anything that should be overrunning our Philippine streets, it’s the class of car know in Europe as the supermini.  They’re mini because of their short lengths, and super because they go far beyond what you’d expect from such a small package…put another way, these cars are small only in exterior size.

Drivers and families from Japan and Europe have embraced the concept of the tiny car that is comfortable and fun to drive.  In those areas, superminis are used not just as city cars, but as all-rounders.  Whether it’s to the supermarket or the far countryside, owners can thrash them around on all sorts of roads while having a good time behind the wheel. 

The original superminis came from the likes of Volkswagen—the original Beetle was slow and noisy, but its appeal stretched beyond the economic classes.  The New Beetle is now a plaything for the rich, but VW has continued a tradition of good-to-own small cars in the Lupo and Polo.  We don’t really understand why otherwise intelligent distributors would have a difficult time marketing Volkswagens, but the first to attempt it failed miserably because it pitted unrefined and unremarkable Polo against Japanese stalwarts Civic and Corolla.   Now VW is selling the new Lupo but for the PHP815,000 that they’re charging, you could buy a 160-bhp Civic SiR and still have a lot of change left.  It’s not surprising that we haven’t seen a single Lupo outside the showroom.

VW’s Czech subsidiary Skoda has come up with a ’mini that can beat the Lupo on value: the Fabia.  The Fabia is not that sporty or a razor-sharp handler, but it offers something that a lot of buyers want: comfort, refinement and conservative good looks.  Its interior benefits much from VW’s expertise in choice of materials and build quality.  You could say it’s the Corolla of superminis.