Early this year, a major upheavel flipped over the company that holds the local distributor ship of General Motors and Chevrolet in the Philippines.

In a stunning coup, former Hyundai Iron Lady Maria Fe Agudo, earlier stripped of her very successful franchise took over the reins of the American brand from the long time management team of Atty. Albert Arcilla and his trusted second in command Lyn Manalansang Buena.

Sure, Chevy and GM were not superstars during that time, but it had steady sales and proper presence in the market. And we did see developments on a regular basis.

Now, over a year after that surprising corporate takeover, just like that Chinese brand that keeps sending PR’s but has had no presence even until today, Chevy or GM has yet to peep from their hibernation.

I have heard some rumors about their plans and efforts but so far those have been just that, rumors.

I do get that once in a while press material that says they are there, but as far as presence, Chevy seems to be very quiet.

Which is quite worrying to Chevy and other GM automobile owners because there is quite a number of them out there and they are not sure of the service they can get when their units get a problem.

Many Chevy dealarships have also closed, even that big one alone EDSA near Annapolis in Greenhills, and that one inQuezon Avenue and Commonwealth.

I am not sure if they are closed, remodeling or what because there is no one to ask.

We don’t even know who their communications people are so we could refer to them Chevy owners who have issues.

All we know if that Fe Agustins now heads TCCCI, the company that owns the GM/Chevy franchise, but as to who else are part of the executive and management team, there is not even a whisper.

This situation does not send a good signal to their loyal clients considering that their main competitor, Ford, has been very aggressive lately, even bringing in their iconic Bronco a couple of weeks ago.

With their current campaign, numbers show Ford climbing the sales ladder ranking while Chevy keeps sliding ever downwards.

Is Ms. Agudo planning for something big? Or has she lost her touch that sent Hyundai to the top of the charts before.

We are still waiting, but nothing seems to be coming.

*****

By the by, we just came  from an overnight trip to test drive the Jetour T2 and it was not a surprise that it is a well built car.

The squatter shape SUV looks like a Jeep Cherokee at first glan E and then the design grows on you after a longer look.

The body is sturdy and robust with heavy doors and reinforced like panels.

The instrumento cluster and technology and easy to understand giving you a familiar feeling.

I’ll do a longer review soon but suffice it to say that the T2 is one good option for now.

(This opinion piece is released earlier at the Fast Times section of The Manila Times that comes out every Tuesday.)