When I started out as a motoring journalist almost ten years ago, my first major assignments were to cover Isuzu events. It was 2011, and Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC) had already cemented itself as the number one brand when it came to overall truck sales in the country.
Fast forward to August 2020, and IPC had again hit another major milestone — the sale of its 300,000th production unit! That sale that hit the milestone mark was the purchase of an Isuzu D-Max RZ4E pickup released from its Isuzu Leyte dealership. And to commemorate this special achievement, Isuzu held a virtual press conference last Monday to share some of IPC’s interesting stories in its “Journey to 300K.”
The very first Isuzu vehicle sold by IPC was the Isuzu NKR85 from its Davao branch. During that time, IPC had only 12 dealerships in the entire country. That very first vehicle was sold for P475,000; and by the end of that same year, IPC had managed to sell a total of 3,308 vehicles.
“I took us 12 years to achieve our first 100,000 unit sales milestone,” shared IPC president Hajime Koso during the press conference. Explaining that, “Within the next 9 years, we reached the 200,000 unit sales mark. And after 6 more years, we are now in our 300,000th milestone. The period for selling (the last) 100,000 units has been shortened by three years!”
IPC had successfully accelerated its sales in the Philippines thanks to its strong initiative to continue introducing several light commercial vehicles into the local market. By 2015, the truck brand had already managed to sell a total of 206,023 units. And as of today, IPC had so far officially recorded the sale of 300,133 units.
Although Isuzu Philippines, like all other vehicle manufacturers, had suffered losses from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Koso-san gave his assurances that he is confident that IPC will continue to rise above these challenges and continue to offer the reliable vehicles that Filipinos have come to recognize.
“Change is inevitable, and all we have to do is to adapt to stay competitive,” remarked Koso. Furthering that “IPC has geared up for its digital transformation as we have formed a digital task force that specializes in creating a new business platform for the new normal, I think we can present various solutions to you, and this is something to look forward to.”
The Philippines has, for a long time, been one of the most important markets for Isuzu’s business. If you take a moment to think about it, Isuzu has in fact, for 20 consecutive years, been hailed as number one in the overall truck sales in the country! That says a lot about customer loyalty and confidence in the brand.
And to show how it remains to be every Filipino’s ‘Responsible Partner,’ Isuzu has initiated a number of attractive promotions for the last quarter of 2020. Among them is its ‘300K Thank You Big Discount Promo,’ which offers an additional P30,000 discount on the sale price of the D-Max RZ4E and Travis S — the biggest offer to date, for these variants. Since it already had a running promotion of P150,000 off, that puts the total discount now at P180,000 for these two vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Isuzu Mu-X LS can be purchased for a persuasive P1.350 Million. The Traviz gets a total discount of P130,000 off its sale price, while many other discounts are also on offer for its heavy-duty truck series.
Isuzu customers will also qualify to receive free Shell GO+ fuel cards, which are worth P700, from October 1 to December 31, 2020. Moreover, IPC also has a running service promo which offers a 30 percent discount for preventive maintenance service and general repairs (parts and labor), for all Isuzu vehicles with odometer readings that fall between 300,000 – 310,000 kms.
Frontliners also get special privileges via a quick oil change package for as low as P1,700, even if their vehicles are already outside of warranty.
Lastly, IPC is also slated to hold its ‘Online Tambayan’ virtual meet with three if its biggest and most active owners’ clubs: the Mu-X Owners Philippines on October 10; Team ICE on October 17; and Team Isuzu Pilipinas on October 24. These sessions will be fun gatherings that are to include online raffles and games, meant to give back to loyal Isuzu patrons.
In light of the pandemic, IPC has also continued to donate medical-grade PPEs to beneficiary hospitals in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The company has also lent out vehicles to help frontliners, for free. Institutions like the Red Cross and Caritas Manila are also regular beneficiaries of IPC’s CSR projects.
Congratulations, Isuzu Philippines! You have been doing a great job growing your business, building dependable trucks, and being a responsible partner to your customers!