As 2013 comes to a close, it’s actually a great opportunity to look back at the year that’s gone by and to gauge where CarGuide.PH has gone.

This site started out as my personal take on the Philippine automotive industry. Though automotive websites and blogs have become much more crowded compared to when I started 15 years ago, I feel blessed by you, my loyal readers, who sought out my voice amidst the choir of voices. Therefore, I’d like to open this message with a big thank you from all of us at CarGuide.PH. I hope you all continue to stay with us to we see what exciting stuff we have in store for this year.

2013 has been tremendously successful for CarGuide.PH. This year, we’ve gone to more places and driven more cars than ever before. Throughout our journey, we’ve met new friends and got re-acquainted with old ones. This year, we’ve finally gotten an invitation to attend the Tokyo Motor Show—considered to be the most sought-after assignment in the automotive industry. We’ve also gotten recognized once again. At The 2013 Henry Ford Awards, we won Best Smart and Safety Feature Story and Best Published Photograph while being nominated for Online Blog of the Year yet again.

The most important milestone, however, is an explosion in our readership. This year, we’ve seen our best numbers. We now average 44,000 unique visitors (a total of 69,000 individuals) and more than 210,000 page views a month. These numbers are enough to cement us as the third most-read automotive website in the Philippines. And yet, CarGuide.PH is run and maintained by one, yes, one person. Moreover, we’ve seen a drastic increase in our Facebook presence with more than 8,500 Facebook likes on our official page. And our car manufacturer friends can request verified, third-party certified information on our hits at any time.

Through all the successes, 2013 was also beset by tragedies such as the Visayan earthquake as well as the destruction brought about by Super Typhoon Yolanda. We’ve done our part by donating both in cash and in kind to various relief agencies. We’ve also extended help to our personal friends and relatives who were affected by these two natural calamities.

We don’t know what to expect this year, but we’re very excited. We’re pleased to let you know that CarGuide.PH is remaining independent in the near-future. We’ve secured our domain name for the next 5 years. We also remain steadfast in giving you the most up-to-date and most relevant news on the Philippine automotive industry.

In closing, we would like once again to sincerely extend our thanks to all our readers and supporters. Without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Happy New Year from us at CarGuide.PH!

Cheers,