A week ago, our friends at BAIC Philippines were generous enough to lend the BJ20 – one of the most attractive sports utility vehicle (SUV) crossovers in the local market today.

While driving it around metropolis, I have noticed that other motorists are more distracted than ever before as they struggle to keep their eyes on the road while staring at the car I was driving.

Yes, folks, the BJ20 was a real head-turner. With its sleek design and powerful engine, driving it along the streets of Metro Manila would surely make you the envy of other drivers.

But what is the BJ20? Apart from being a China-made car, BAIC Philippines describes it as a renegade crossover.

The BJ20 was launched globally and presented to the public in August 2016.

It boasts a boxy and ruggedly lived-in look. It is front-wheel-drive (FWD), and powered by a Euro5-compliant, turbocharged 1.5-liter engine that comes with an advanced variable-valve-timing (VVT).

BAIC Philippines stated that since its engine is turbocharged, it is fuel-efficient and powerful.

But let me set aside these attributes and allow me to share our experience while driving the BJ20.

My OnPatrolPH partner, Ricky Velasco, and I decided to take the BJ20 for a spin on February 5. Incidentally, it was the celebration of the Chinese New Year. And yes, it was a holiday!

Instead of our usual drive of going North or South, we decided to go East for a change and went to the windmill farm in Pililla, Rizal. The road going to the windmill farm was long and winding but expectedly, the BJ20 surpassed and succeeded any insurmountable and unforeseeable obstacles we encountered.

The car accelerates smoothly and silently up to highway speeds with about as much gusto as you would get from one of the turbocharged gas engines that are under the hood of a growing percentage of compact SUVs. It is quick and fast but it does not overwhelm your passengers.

The BJ20 is also easy to drive. The light-effort steering feels natural when changing lanes and making turns. The suspension tuning delivers a controlled ride, and while it is on the firm side it did not feel harsh.

Let me talk about the BJ20’s attractive look. It may be one of the most affordable crossovers, but the car speaks nothing but luxury. Its beautifully crafted exterior equates to the fancy and luxurious features it has in its interiors.

With panoramic roof that lets sunlight and fresh air in when driving – creating a romantic atmosphere, a push-start ignition, a large touchscreen display, the BJ20 is certainly one of the cars of your dreams.

Now, with all these goodies and elegant engineering, the BJ20 is being offered in two variants: The 1.5L Turbo CVT standard (P1,148,000) and the 1.5L Turbo CVT luxury edition (P1,288,000).

Conclusion

Many have claimed that anything made in China is reverse engineered, copied and poor innovation.

But contrary to popular belief, Chinese firms these days are more and more focused on producing valuable and useful products, creating and developing world-renowned brands and using sophisticated technology.

Though not true of every factory in China, the country’s manufacturing industry as a whole has certainly made significant and progressive strides in recent years.

It may interest you to know that BAIC  – opened shop in the Philippines in 2014 – is the fourth-largest auto group in China. The company is based in Beijing.

Published reports have earlier stated that the BAIC Group was ranked 124^th on the Fortune Global 500 list, with an operating income of $69.6 billion.

Question: Will the BJ20’s elegant engineering and high-end features be enough to attract consumer interest amid high fuel prices and a shift in preference to economy cars? We will soon find out.

With the proliferation of the substandard steels in the market in order to meet the demand of the booming construction in the country and the government project of BUILD, BUILD, BUILD, the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute urged the Department of Trade and Industry to closely monitor the sales of reinforcing steel bars in the country as many have found to be low the standard prescribed.

The group recently found out that several hardware stores in Southern Luzon are selling below quality rebars after a market monitoring operation within the region discovered it. The identified areas are Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro.

“We also recommended to the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) to conduct an immediate audit and issue show-cause orders to the manufacturers that produced and sold the substandard rebar,” said PISI President Roberto Cola in a statement.

“We are concerned that substandard rebars are being openly sold in the provinces of Mindoro, Batangas, Laguna, and Cavite. These steel products are used for the construction of homes in the provinces which are usually visited by typhoons, flashfloods, and sometimes earthquakes, and thus, they need to use quality construction materials. The proliferation of substandard steel in the provinces poses grave danger to families living in those provinces,” Cola said.

“While substandard rebars are unsafe to use, they are being sold without the knowledge of the buying public,” he said further.

A report from PISI states that the Pampanga-based induction furnace steelmaker Wan Chiong Steel has been selling most of the underweight rebars at six stores while other manufacturers who seemed to be violating the existing consumer protection laws for selling 8MM as 9MM rebars are Capasco, Phil Koktai Metal, Continental, Metrodragon, and Real Steel.

According to a radio report, the said substandard rebars were mostly produced in China and imported to the Philippines and then being sold in the domestic market without the knowledge of the buyers or users that these (substandard) steels do not meet the required specification based on the design and usage of the said materials being used in construction.