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DUSTIN
Hoffman was the star in the smash hit film Accidental
Hero.
He was a
bit of a weird character in the movie, where he happened
to be by the scene of a plane crash first.
Absent-mindedly, Dustin entered the flaming jet
unmindful of the dangers that lay in ambush. Anytime,
the big bird’s fuel tank could explode.
One by
one, in monotonous regularity, he saved the terrified
flight passengers in almost clockwork precision.
He’d
enter the flaming plane in numbered paces, and come out
with a passenger in tow—some already injured badly that
they could hardly move or walk.
Picture perfect
Isuzu’s SUV has
really come a long way
He must
have saved all aboard, except for one or two.
But
then, after heroically doing what he did, he walked away
from it all. As if nothing had happened. Business-like.
All in a
day’s work.
No
emotions. No frills. No fanfare. No nothing.
When the
TV crews arrived, Dustin was gone. Disappeared like a
bubble. Back to his life of misery and want, into the
dungeons of poverty in the city of the rat race.
Survivors interviewed by media people, investigators and
airline officials would only talk of how a man “did his
bit by dutifully” plucking out one passenger after
another from their seats and brought them outside of the
metallic inferno, out of harm’s way.
A
massive search for the hero was launched.
And only
then did the drama of the film’s story would start to
really unfold.
In our
own wild and woolly world of the motoring industry, we
also have our own version of the “accidental hero.”
Of
course, some people would deny it, and we couldn’t blame
them.
But
then, this automotive accidental hero ought to be retold
here, too, if only to be faithful to history—and to
facts.
And who,
what, is this accidental hero again in recent memory of
our automotive business?
None
other than the Alterra.
Okay,
you want a flashback? Rewind?
Back in
2005, there was this mad dash among our car cognoscenti
to grab the latest compact SUV to hit town. Its name
was—yes, you guessed it right—Fortuner.
Toyota
included Fortuner among its latest fleet to revamp, to
revolutionize, the face of the ever-changing world of
the motoring business.
So
stunning was the
Toyota move that among those included in the radical facelift was
the phasing out of the highly commercially successful
Revo. In Revo’s place was the Innova.
Many
grumbled, especially among thousands of Revo owners who
felt slighted by the move to declare extinct their
favorite ride.
But
then, as history would bear
Toyota
out, the shift in switch was a step toward the right
direction. In no time, both the Fortuner and Innova
would score smash hits in the market, even helping
Toyota score its Triple Crown triumph that year—and the
succeeding years.
 And
also, Revo owners would soon find that they were not
really “abandoned” as spare parts and services for their
vehicles remained available nationwide.
But amid
this happy backdrop for
Toyota
came the happy twist—if not lucky turn of events—that
made Isuzu become part and parcel of the success story.
There
was this almost daily long queue for the Fortuner,
forcing some to abandon their plans to buy one.
But
then, some that backed off got wind of the arrival of
Isuzu’s new invention—the Alterra.
One
switch-buyer led to another and soon, a similar queue
had gone a-building in Metro Manila Isuzu dealerships.
It would soon spread in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Just by
word of mouth, the new Alterra was selling like
hotcakes, rivaling that, almost, of Fortuner’s orders
and actual consummated sales.
Milton
Liu of Southern Motors in
Davao’s Isuzu dealership would still remember receiving
orders “way past
midnight” for the Alterra.
Three
years later, the “accidental hero” of the automotive
business has become bigger, handsomer and more
high-tech—what with its dashboard screen monitoring your
behind when you are backing up.
The 2008
Isuzu Alterra is huge in many ways.
It can
comfortably seat eight adults even as it is made for
seven people.
Its
trunk is such that it can accommodate your chest of
kitchenware, pantry and wardrobe when you go out of town
for a one-week vacation or two.
It can
load tons but it’s so fuel-efficient it would hardly
dent your purse.
Its
being a family vehicle is boosted by the fact that it
has provisions for DVD, which the kids could
conveniently switch on for a movie or two during a ride
to the country. It even has a USB port.
“I don’t
know how to properly describe it, but I think that to
say it’s now the perfect vehicle for the family would be
an understatement,” said Ronald “Mayor B” Baladad of
Isuzu Motor Philippines.
Indeed,
the “accidental hero” has come a long way. |
