Peugeot Philippines is 2022’s fastest-growing auto brand

Peugeot today announced a record year in the Philippines with overall retail sales in 2022 rising 285 percent1 year-over-year. Since launching in January last year, the brand’s year-long sales momentum continued through December with unprecedented record month-on-month performance, making Peugeot the fastest-growing automotive brand in 2022.

“It’s been a remarkable year for us, from beginning to end, and we’re extremely proud of how the allure of the Peugeot brand and our vehicles connect with so many Filipino customers. We’re grateful for the positive response of the market, for the investment and commitment of our dealers, and for the support of our friends in the media who helped share our story in 2022,” said Maricar Parco, brand head of Peugeot Philippines.

The phenomenal growth is attributable to the huge customer demand for the Lion brand’s four new nameplates: the Peugeot 2008 SUV, Peugeot 3008 SUV, Peugeot 5008 SUV, and the Peugeot Traveller Premium.

Peugeot also capped off 2022 with more showrooms and service centers across the country, as shared by Parco during a media thanksgiving luncheon today organized by Astara Philippines, the exclusive distributor of Peugeot in the country. Parco reported a total of 13 operational Peugeot showrooms nationwide:

  • Six locations in Metro Manila: Alabang, Balintawak, Makati, Manila Bay, Pasig and Quezon Avenue
  • Four locations in Luzon: Bulacan and Pampanga in North Luzon, Rosa, and Batangas in South Luzon
  • Two locations in Visayas: Cebu and Negros (Bacolod), and
  • One in Mindanao: Davao

Opening soon are Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro, plus more in the months to come to bring the brand closer to its target of 18 dealerships by year-end.

“We’re ramping up our efforts to grow our network aggressively in 2023, and the key to that is identifying new dealer partners who share our vision of building the Peugeot brand further in the Philippines,” added Parco.

Peugeot to Launch New Vehicles, Improve Service Reliability and Parts Availability, and Roll-out Exciting Customer Programs

Peugeot is off to a roaring start as it revealed today its high-level priorities for the market. Parco shared plans to expand the Peugeot lineup by adding new variants to their current range, particularly the Peugeot 3008, Peugeot 5008 and Peugeot Traveller Premium.

Happening in the second quarter, the introduction of new variants aims to offer more options to Peugeot’s discerning customers who are looking to experience a more refined way of traveling. Additionally, by the fourth quarter, Peugeot will launch a new model that offers Filipino customers a premium choice in a segment dominated by Asian and American brands.

The company has also taken steps to improve service reliability and parts availability in all its service centers. Stellantis, the manufacturer of Peugeot, has accredited Eurorepar Car Service as a supplier for maintenance parts beginning the first quarter of this year. With Eurorepar’s proven reliability and full range of replacement parts, Peugeot owners with out-of-warranty vehicles now have an option for more reasonably priced parts and can continue to enjoy Peugeot service at authorized service centers.

Peugeot is slated to launch its Emergency Roadside Assistance (ERA) program to give customers added peace of mind while driving their Peugeot vehicle on the road. Supported by Ibero Asistencia, a global provider of roadside assistance services, the ERA program will cover vehicle recovery, towing, fuel delivery, flat tire replacement, locksmith service, and battery boosting among services. Every brand-new vehicle purchased beginning in the first quarter of this year will be covered by one (1) year free ERA.

This month, the company is bringing back the Peugeot Easy-Own program that offers customers an easier way of owning a Peugeot through various financing options with low-interest rates. Coming from a successful run last year, the Peugeot Easy-Own program will be expanded this year to include more bank partners and better finance plans.

New customers will have another great reason to buy a brand-new Peugeot as the company kicks off its Le Mans 24 Hour Race Weekend Raffle promo this month. Peugeot will fly two lucky winners and their plus one to France in June to witness the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar in the race.

Customers may inquire directly with their preferred Peugeot dealers or visit https://www.peugeot.ph to know more about Service and Parts, Peugeot ERA, Easy-Own Financing and the Le Mans 24-Hour Race Weekend Raffle promo.

Peugeot Philippines hopes to continue its winning streak in 2023 by focusing on their customers’ mobility needs and surpassing their expectations. Parco further added, “Everything we do, every experience we offer, epitomizes the power of allure. It is what draws our customers to buy our vehicles, and it is what will keep them coming back as customers for life.”

Astara is one of the biggest automotive distributors and mobility companies in the world. In the last 12 months, the company has made significant progress on accelerating the revival of the brand in the Philippine market by providing customers with European-grade premium vehicles that Peugeot is known the world over for.

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POCO X3 Pro review: Flagship features for an affordable price

06/01/2021

POCO, Xiaomi’s former sub-brand, has been known to push the envelope when it comes to offering high-end hardware and features for affordable prices. And just a few months back, the company introduced its X3 Pro that offers exactly just that.

With a 120Hz refresh rate for its display and a Snapdragon 860 CPU running under the hood, it claims smooth and lag-free gaming sessions for under PhP 13K.

Design

With a display bigger than 6 inches, the POCO X3 Pro is not only tall and wide but also a bit on the thick side due to its battery capacity.

It comes with a solid chassis and a plastic back that follows the round edges of its general form factor. The volume rocker is on the right side as commonly seen on phones with the power button right below it.

This power and lock button also doubles as a fingerprint sensor for a layer of security instead of going for an in-display approach. There’s not much difference between the two apart from the fact that you can accidentally unlock the phone just by holding the phone normally and resting your thumb on the button.

On the opposite side is the tray for its SIM and microSD cards with a hybrid setup.

Down below we have a 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C port, and one of two speaker grilles with the other one found at its loudspeaker. The top houses its IR blaster along with microphones for noise cancelation.

Finally, turn it around and we’re greeted with the back panel and its unique design. It has this matte finish on the sides with a glossy strip running down the center. And if you look closely, there’s a POCO branding printed in there that shines in rainbow colors. Pretty trippy.

The POCO X3 Pro is available in various colors namely Phantom Black, Frost Blue, and Metal Bronze.

Display and multimedia

With a large 6.67-inch display at Full HD+, you easily get to enjoy consuming content whether it’s browsing on social media platforms, watching videos on YouTube, or streaming movies and TV shows on Netflix.

Colors are vibrant and details are sharp thanks to its 2400 x 1080 resolution. Its screen is also bright which makes watching all the more immersive especially streaming ultra-high-resolution videos.

Its almost full-screen display is just slightly obstructed by a single punch-hole for the selfie camera but it’s not too distracting even while streaming videos on full screen. The display is also reinforced by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6 that should protect it from scratches and drops.

In terms of display technology, it features a refresh rate of 120Hz for fluid motion while gaming or browsing as well as support for 240Hz touch sampling rate for more responsive input while gaming. This made browsing a bit easier on the eyes but the real difference in experience comes in gaming.

Movements and effects while gaming simply look better on high refresh rates and result in a more natural and enjoyable experience.

As mentioned earlier, the X3 Pro features dual speakers with certified hi-res audio. True enough, sound quality is clear for mids and highs while lows are decent. It’s even capable of producing virtual surround sound as long as you’re watching close to the screen since volume could sometimes leave you wanting more.

Cameras

Sporting a quad-camera setup, the phone shoots with a 48-megapixel main sensor that boasts large pixels to achieve brighter images. This is then supported by an 8-megapixel ultra-wide for landscape shots, 2-megapixel macro, and another 2-megapixel for depth.

Images produced are indeed bright and clear and are able to maintain details even when the subject is against the light. Colors are not that vibrant and lively but I personally don’t mind as it keeps things looking natural. And if I wanted to have more saturated colors, I could easily push them using photo editing apps.

Its ultra-wide sensor could also produce vivid colors but has a tendency to be overly sharp at times. Details for its Macro mode are not great but not that bad either. Although to be fair to the phone, I personally haven’t seen macro shots from smartphones good enough to make me replace a dedicated macro lens.

On the flip side, it sports a 20-megapixel selfie camera that shoots decent selfies. I just noticed that skin tone tends to be a bit warm and reddish under sunlight.

What I really enjoyed are the built-in photo effects that add drama to your images. These are not the cutesy or low-res effects that you overlay on photos. Some apply nicely tweaked filters, while you also have choices of patterns or swirls that spice up your shots.

Performance

Underneath the hood is a Snaprdragon 860 CPU with a choice of either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and storage options of 128GB and 256GB. Together with its Adreno 640 GPU, this tandem alone is capable of churning out processing power enough for tasks and performances done on a daily basis like switching between social media apps and playing today’s top titles.

The phone is also equipped with UFS 3.1 that enables it to perform fast read and write speeds for transferring bulk files or apps into the phone.

Its built-in NFC and IR blaster also offered welcome additions to its connectivity. With NFC, instant pairing with other devices is possible, and even controlling supported appliances can be done using its infrared sensor.

In addition to its fingerprint scanner, the front camera functions as a face scanner for added security. Unlocking performance is spot on and works fast, but with face masks on, you’d still be relying on its fingerprint scanner most of the time.

The X3 Pro also runs on MIUI 12 for POCO which is based on Android 11 and as such, you get to enjoy all its features like enhanced security and privacy in addition to those made to make navigating its UI easier and more user-centric.

We mentioned running the latest game titles on it and the phone did well doing so. But unlike other phones we’ve reviewed that easily heat up especially when rendering resource-intensive games, the X3 Pro kept its cool while running on a steady 47fps on Genshin Impact.

This is mostly thanks to its LiquidCool Technology that helps dissipate heat and ensure smooth running performance when you need it most.

Battery 

For its battery, it carries a 5160mAh pack that boasts support for its included 33W fast charger. With it, we were able to top up the device in about 1 hour and 20 minutes from empty which doesn’t line up to the 1-hour claim made by the company.

For our battery test involving streaming a 4K video at 50% brightness and no volume, we were able to achieve a standard 13 hours of continuous playback. Real-life usage averages around 8 hours of social media browsing and gaming.

Creature Feature

As always, in our reviews, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features in devices that make them worth having — a Creature Feature if you will. For the POCO X3 Pro, it would have to be its Snapdragon 860 processor that’s able to perform reliably whether you’re simply browsing or playing games.

Combining that with an affordable price makes the X3 Pro a very capable mobile device.

Price and final thoughts

With a price tag of PhP 12,990 for the 6GB/128GB variant and PhP 15,990 for the 8GB/256GB model, the POCO X3 Pro is not only an affordable gaming device, but it’s also a decent shooter thanks to its quad-camera setup. You get different shooting modes to choose from and works perfectly as a point-and-shoot camera.

You also get an immersive 120Hz display with decent resolution and dual speakers to make content consumption more enjoyable.

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