Automotto just loves people who adore everything automotive so Paul Tan the famous autoblogger became a celebrity with us the moment he gave a nodahead for an exclusive interview. Following is the set of questions, which he replied to, and a comprehension of the entire set of questions makes us adore him all the more, so without wasting any more time here’s the conversation.
Introduce yourself to our readers in relation to your origin and how eventually did you decide to be an autoblogger
Well, I’m just a regular guy with a passion for things with wheels. My blog used to be a personal blog, but I did post about cars every now and then. I noticed that those were the posts that usually received some decent traffic and got decent comments. So I saw there was a niche there to be filled. There were no local car blogs around at that time.
Paul is it an entire unit that functions with you or as your name suggests, are you the sole member updating it regularly?
I write most of the stories... 99%, but there are some contributors like Shannon Teoh and Jeremy Mahadevan from New Straits Times ( www.nst.com.my)
Your pick on the growing dominance of the Asian Automakers in the North-American Market?
The Asians are hungrier, their product development time is shorter, thus are able to respond better to market needs.
Industry Speculators believe that the Asian Markets are the next big thing for the global auto giants, how do you see the future for foreign players in the Asian Markets?
Everyone is scrambling to develop their own budget car ala the Renault Logan. I’ve no other comment on this at the moment.
Hybrid is the buzzword in the automotive world and we obviously don’t have a choice for global warming is eating up on our environment. Your comment on this?
I think hybrids are just a stopgap fad. Perhaps some automakers have been quiet about the whole hybrid thing until recently only because of marketing purposes are because the know this and are working on proper effective replacements for the internal combustion engine. Electric motors for example.
Alternative Fuels do not ensure performance in terms of speed so how do you think the eco-friendly cars will cater to this aspect.
I am sure there will be an alternative fuel equivalent to the saying “no replacement for displacement”
Auto blogging is not an easy job, as you need to carefully pick up articles especially when you update it regularly, so how do you go about setting your preferences.
Local articles get a priority because no one else covers them. Next comes the international stuff in the order of new product launches, new concept cars, business news, etc.
People until date rate Toyota Prius as the best Hybrid version of a sedan, but the critics believe it has many defects, which the ardent followers simply ignore. Do you believe that Prius deserves the accolade or is it just a myth?
I don’t particularly like the Prius because the fuel savings you get aren’t really all that, but not much other comments at the moment.
Which is your favorite Autoblog and why?
Autoblog. I started reading that, so I kinda just stuck to it. They have a nice clean layout, makes it easy to read.
Finally a comment on the ‘revamped version of Automotto’ and the Instablogs Network?
Looks great - it probably was expensive. Wish I could afford your designer! :D
