It was quite a unique but apt regional launch for Nissan Philippines’ first mid-size SUV that was held at the vast, fast-rising Clark Global City in the former largest American airbase in this part of the world.
The launch venue had all the elements necessary to visibly demonstrate some of the remarkable off-road capabilities of Nissan Philippines’ newest offering in the local market like a huge steeply angled man-made gravel hill to show its almost effortless climb and a series of gravel and soil mounds to show its ease of handling off roads driving scenarios.
Presented as a proud descendant of the Patrol and thus having an “over 60 years of SUV heritage into its development” the Terra is a framed-based Sport Utility Vehicle with a diesel engine that packs 190 HP and 450 Nm of torque.
“The new Nissan Terra is designed to give you the confidence to take your family on exceptional urban and outdoor adventures by providing a no-compromise package,” remarked Ramesh Narasimhan, president and managing director of Nissan Philippines during one of the interviews conducted right after the impressive launch, attended by local and foreign motoring journalists and major local Nissan dealers.
For an accurate measure, the Terra was subjected by motoring journalists to an actual test drive near the Mt. Pinatubo area to demonstrate its excellent off-road ride courtesy of a reinforced chassis, five-link coil spring rear suspension system and rigid rear-wheel axel. For 4×4 situations the Terra was also made to show other capabilities like a four-wheel-drive DIFF lock system as well as hill descent control and hill start assist.
During the launch, the Nissan Intelligent Mobility Technologies, touted to ensure safety and convenience that are found in the Terra, was highlighted like lane departure warning, blind spot warning, intelligent around view monitor with object detection and the smart rear view mirror that allows drivers to see images from a camera mounted at the back.
It was a three-day launch that took journalists away from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila for a two-night stay at the Midori Hotel in Clark, which offers multi-star amenities but “sadly sans bidets”—a common complaint especially among the meticulously hygiene-conscious motoring journalists. Something worth looking into, I suppose.
It might interest you to know that Nissan has started to take reservations and has announced the August 20 availability of the Terra with a starting SRP of P1.499M.
BYD continues growth in the country
My congratulations to the young top honcho of BYD Philippines, Mark Tieng for launching recently the BYD TANG plug-in Hybrid Super Sport at the Le Pavilion Manila.
If you remember it was BYD Philippines that brought in the first electric vehicle in the country, the E6.
The BYD TANG has a 2.0 turbo engine, which can be plugged in a regular 220-volt outlet, which I understand can run for 80 kilometers on a single charge.
This launch comes timely with the country now slowly but surely acknowledging the importance of electric vehicles.
No mean feat for Honda Cars Kalookan
Our good friend Johnny Fetalvero continues to ride high handling the management reins of Honda Cars Kalookan, one of the remarkable top-performing dealerships of Honda Cars Philippines.
Being a car dealership that has been “numero uno” or Number One in Sales Satisfaction Index for the past 5 years can indeed be an enviable achievement. This came out from a third party customer survey based on the dealership’s sales executives, dealer, service delivery and documentation.
Good job, Johnny! This comes a lot better than winning the top raffle prize of a huge slab of Angus steak in the annual STV Golf Invitational.
Happy Motoring!!!
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