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UNIVERSAL Motors Corp. launched Monday its totally new
Nissan Frontier model, the Navara, pinning hopes that
the vehicle will help the company reclaim the top spot
in the local pickup truck market.
Elizabeth Lee, Universal Motors executive vice president
for marketing, told reporters that the superior quality
and features of the Navara will make the difference when
it officially enters the Philippine market in November.
Lee said
with the entry of the Frontier in 2000, the Nissan
pickup truck was the bestseller in the segment for four
consecutive years.
The
company lost the top-billing, however, and has fallen
behind Mitsubishi, Toyota and Isuzu after these
companies have launched successive new models.
Lee said
Universal Motors, when it held the top spot in the
pickup segment, used to have a market share of 36
percent.
This
amount of market presence, she said, is what the company
is hoping to reclaim with the help of the Navara.
The next
generation Frontier, Lee said, is poised to set “new,
higher levels of innovation in the pickup market just
like the previous Frontier models did.
“Starting with the breed of four-wheel drives, the
Navara’s all-powerful YD25DDTi 2.5-liter common-rail
turbo intercooler diesel engine is the first to deliver
an impressive, industry-leading, unmatched
174-horsepower rating coupled with a maximum torque of
403 Newton-meters. It is the most powerful engine in its
class,” Lee said at the launch of the Navara Monday at
the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati.
Aside
from this, Lee said the Navara is equipped with another
class-leading six-speed manual transmission, another
first in the pickup segment, which makes the model one
of the most fuel efficient vehicles in this class.
Inside,
Lee said the Navara combines the comfort and command
seating of an SUV, with technology and legroom more
associated with a luxury sedan. |
