This is the leveled up 2020 Toyota Vios

Leading car manufacturer Toyota Motor Philippines has officially unveiled the 2020 update of its best-selling, locally made passenger car – the Toyota Vios.

The New Vios – with its improved modern design debuted by the global mobility company in the Philippines – comes at the forefront of TMP’s drive to lead the resurgence of the local auto industry by responding to the Filipinos’ need for quality, efficient, and safe mode of transportation.

Introduced in an online launch program witnessed by thousands of viewers nationwide, the New Vios is expected to continue its streak as the Philippines’s top-selling car – a record it has been holding for more than a decade now.

“You can count on TMP to stay true to our promise of making the world’s best Vios, and in the process, helping the economy, and providing livelihood to thousands of Filipino families” said TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto during his remarks, pertaining to the local production of the Vios in TMP’s Santa Rosa, Laguna manufacturing plant.

“With the New Vios, we have once again reinvented the Filipino’s most preferred car. With its upgraded design and new features, we can truly expect the New Vios to LEVEL UP YOUR DRIVE!” he added.

The Vios has been the quintessential road companion of Filipinos, moving families and enabling businesses for 17 years now. Now made even better to adapt to the new mobility landscape, the New Vios moves forward, providing reliability, durability, and affordability it is known for since its debut in the Philippine market in 2003.

The New Vios lineup boasts improvements on its looks and features across 9 available variants – G CVT and M/T, E CVT and M/T, XLE CVT and M/T, XE CVT, and J and J Base in M/T.

Leveled-up Look and Features

The New Vios gets an eye-catching upgrade on its exterior with the glossy black front grille, further accentuated by the 3-tier LED headlights and daytime running lights for G variants. G, E and XLE variants also get LED fog lamps. G variants have 16-inch alloy wheels and LED rear combination lamps with line guide for a sleek and sporty look from the front, to the side, and the back.

From getting in the car and to the destination, the New Vios makes the drive experience fun and convenient. Access is quick and easy with the smart entry feature and push-start button for G variants. Get more control as you drive with the paddle shifters and available drive modes (Eco Mode and Sport Mode) for the G CVT variant.

Ensuring that each trip is safe, the New Vios gives the driver and passengers peace of mind as all variants come with SRS airbags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake Distribution + Brake Assist, Vehicle Stability Control and Hill-Start Assist Control. Back camera is available from G variants, and customers may choose from 3 or 7 SRS airbags for certain variants.

The 2020 model features a low and wide stance, sporting a refreshed look while maintaining its reasonable price point. The New Vios will be available at Toyota dealerships nationwide from July 27, 2020. Customers may also inquire and request quotation online through the virtual showroom accessible anytime anywhere right at their own website.

The Vios Advantage

With all the improvements in features, technologies, and overall driving and riding experience, the New Vios remains to be a practical and smart choice for individuals looking for a reliable daily driver that’s easy to own, use, and maintain, or business owners looking to invest in long-lasting vehicles suited for local conditions.

Carrying the core Toyota benefits that customers get from their Toyota vehicles, the New Vios comes with offers that provide great value and make ownership more fulfilling.

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Buyers of the New Vios can enjoy free periodic maintenance packages up to 20,000 KMs, 5-year warranty, and one year comprehensive insurance. Loyal customers may also take advantage of trade-in discounts, while both current car owners and first-time buyers can choose from flexible financing deals.

The New Vios will also be made available through the recently introduced car-leasing program, Kinto One.

The Vios Legacy

The Vios has established its position as the number one passenger car in the Philippines with almost 320,000 units sold across three generations of the model. In 2019, the Vios ended the year with a 38.6% market share in its segment.

A well-loved and trusted nameplate, the Vios has exhibited unmatched dependability and versatility. Aside from being a ubiquitous fixture on Philippine roads, the Vios has also displayed its power, sturdiness, and sportiness through the long-running Vios One-Make-Race series – the Vios Racing Festival which is set to return in 2021.

“Under the CARS Program of the government, the Vios is our flagship. It helps support almost 55,000 lives throughout the Toyota network, 71 dealers, 56 local suppliers and countless other business and trade partners.” Chairman Alfred Ty expressed in a statement “Our Toyota Vios is a symbol of the best of Japanese technology and Filipino craftsmanship. In my mind, our Vios has become the national car of the Philippines. Atin ito. Gawa ng Filipino para sa Filipino. Proudly made in the Philippines, BY Filipinos, FOR Filipinos.” he concluded.

With all the jobs generated and local investments made, the Vios is a symbol that Toyota will always do its best to drive the economy forward.

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We’re Here review: HBO’s new show that needs no introduction

10/10/2021

We’re Here is a new drag show that stars RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Bob the Drag Queen and his co-drag queen mates Shangela and Eureka O’Hara.

With the pandemic shutting down bars and nightclubs and ultimately the drag shows they house, drag-thirsty folk can now get their fill of glittered shadow, feathered mascara, and fierce strutting while lip-syncing on HBO.

Unlike the reality show formula of Drag Race where each queen competes with one another for top title and money, We’re Here leans toward another familiar formula made famous by Queer Queen Eye for the Straight Guy. See what I did there?

No matter, the show doesn’t disguise from the affiliation.

The premise is simple: the three queens arrive in small-town America, preferably with an undeveloped (yet bubbling underneath) LGBTQ community, mount an extravagant drag show, taking some locals as their guests (and queenlets to mentor) to perform in the show.

The drag show serves as the show’s repeating finale or closer in every episode.

At face value, it looks like a show I would personally skip over with the remote when picking a show to consume during a chill Friday night. But just like that show’s general message, maybe we should give it a chance because we might like what we see.

Surprisingly, the new formula combined with the unapologetic opener of the drag queens’ flamboyant arrival at each small-town, walking around in their full drag queen personas, serves for a refreshing in-your-face TV that’s been missing in this age of streaming.

In true fashion of the colorful drag culture, each episode opens this way, and even if every small-town America’s reaction is pretty much identical to each other (whether it be shock, amusement, accepting or otherwise), it really doesn’t get old.

Although glints of the producers’ heavy hand on some scenes are pretty obvious (glaring example: having a previously intolerant mom perform drag as a way to apologize to her daughter for not accepting her when she came out), the show does catch genuine moments, especially when the Queens prepare their “drag daughters” for the drag show they are setting up.

Their small-town recruits, most of the time shoved way outside of their comfort zones, have moments when they are truly vulnerable and very often uncomfortable, which makes for truly authentic TV. It is also during these moments when you find all the drag queens’ outrageous sense of humor on display.

Mind you, We’re Here does not recruit exclusively within the LGBTQ community. The show is gender-blind when it comes to its recruits and delightfully surprises at each episode, making sure that an LGBTQ issue or something equally important, like mental health, is talked about both amongst each other and directly at the audiences during in-between interviews.

Again, it reeks of the producers’ heavy hand at maybe tugging at the viewer’s emotions, but at least it does get these issues discussed.

Credit must also be given to where credit is due because it takes a lot of guts and strength for these hosts to walk around and interact with small-town residents, where ignorance and intolerance are thriving.

Each show opens with Bob, Shangela and Eureka’s arrival in full drag, parading around their chosen small town, dealing with blatant stares, uncomfortable whispering, and outright avoidance from the local folk.

In one episode, dressed in normal (albeit still excessive) garb, the trio are put in a hostile and potentially Insafe environment when they were asked to leave for merely looking around outside an establishment, all this time being shunned away by someone who refused to speak to then directly or make any sort of eye contact.

These hostilities are dealt with respect and tolerance from the three hosts, which truly juxtaposes the aggressor in these situations.

Like all reality shows that are well-produced, these scenes should probably be taken with a grain of salt, but it doesn’t take away from the reality of the intolerance the LGBTQ community experiences on a daily basis.

Magnifying this intolerance by choosing to shoot a drag show that stages a drag show in towns within the bible belt of America is quite fearless and, if not for anything else, is worth checking out merely for the intrepidness of these three Queens and their endeavor to try to crack open the minds of privileged white folk one small town at a time.

And if that still doesn’t appeal, then surely the show can serve as a suitable stand-in for the lack of live shows as we wait for the world to reopen at the wake of the pandemic.

Catch We’re Here, which airs on HBO Go this October 11.

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