Thursday, December 31, 2015

Remembering 2015: Motoring analysis




The year 2015 has been quite an impact for our daily lives ranging from the good news, better news, the best news, the bad news, the worst news, and everything we laid our eyes on. Now it's the ideal time for this blog to write down the analysis on what's what over the year 2015.

The world of motoring in the year 2015 has been a tremendous topic for the car enthusiasts and for this kind of analysis, I think I may have done much better.

Automotive recalls are nothing new to this year and with the ongoing Takata airbag scandal and General Motors' faulty ignition switches, those headlines really made a huge impact in the motoring industry in 2015. However, the biggest automotive headline that caused quite a backlash by the consumers is the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal. It is discovered that there are dubious software planted on most diesel-powered vehicles, making it capable to cheat through emission regulations. From public apologies to change of management, looks like the VW diesel scandal will keep on going this next year until this problem is resolved.

Fears of high-tech carjacking are one of motoring in 2015's hot topics. It started when a group of researchers managed to remotely hack a Jeep Cherokee with terrifying results and in response, the government officials introduced legislation protecting drivers from auto security privacy risks.

The rise of autonomous driving is also one of the key topics of 2015 as the world's top car manufacturers are busy experimenting with autonomous tech that in the foreseeable future, these self-driving cars will pave way to a much safer motoring, although some are unaware of the possible risks regarding autonomous cars and how they should worry about.

Sportscars are making a huge comeback in the year 2015 with the introduction of the new generation Ford GT, Koenigsegg's first ever PHEV supercar Regera, the new Acura/Honda NSX, Honda S660, the new Mazda Roadster ND, the new Camaro, the new Mustang GT350, the Cayman GT4, and many many other sportscars appeared in 2015, proving that even with today's economic and environmental climate, the sporscars may find its way to redemption.

Meanwhile, eco-cars are making the rounds in the year 2015 and while most models are releasing PHEV versions, car enthusiasts have been greeted with the arrival of new generation eco cars such as the new Toyota Prius, new Chevrolet Volt, and Tesla's Model X crossover.

Hyundai and Citroen made some headlines when they decided to have their own standalone luxury brand such as Genesis and DS Automobiles. The facelifted DS5 is the first of Citroen's standalone DS Automobiles, which was followed with the recently facelifted DS4 range, while Hyundai's new Genesis brand introduced its first ever model, the EQ900 flagship saloon.

Motorsports in the year 2015 has been quite a big year for most car enthusiasts. Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes is once again a world champion in the F1 2015 season. Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya named as the 2015 IndyCar champion. The VW Polo R WRC, driven by Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, scored the most wins in the WRC 2015 season, Mercedes driver Pascal Wehrlein became the 2015 DTM champion. NEXTEV's Nelson Piquet Jr. is the winner of the inaugural FIA Formula E championship. There are so many motorsport moments happened over the year 2015 that made spectators happy no matter what's under the bonnet and what sort of tricks the drivers pulled onto their sleeves.

BBC's motoring TV show Top Gear made headlines in 2015 as thanks to Jeremy Clarkson's fiasco with one of the producers, Series 22 is the last for the Clarkson, Hammond, and May trio. With the trio out of the way, radio DJ Chris Evans was named as the new presenter of Top Gear, coming May of next year. As for the now ousted trio, they got themselves a new motoring show coming to Amazon Prime subscribers next year.

Of course, I would never left what's happening at motoring in the Philippines. From the newly issued license-plates, Isuzu made a Popemobile for Pope Francis during his Papal Visit, a Filipino named Joward Policarpio was named as one of Nissan GT Academy graduates this year, the worst traffic recorded in Metro Manila, and the return of the sudden unintended acceleration problems by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, I'd knew motoring in the Philippines in the year 2015 made a huge impact in every Filipino's lives.

Check back on this special segment for sports analysis.

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