90% of Isuzu vehicles
sold are Philippine-made
Isuzu Philippines Corp. said it is committed to sustain a high level of assembly operations in the Philippines even as tariffs continue to fall.
IPC President Ryoji Yamazaki said 90 percent of the vehicles that the company sells in the country are locally assembled "made by Filipinos for Filipinos."
Yamazaki said IPC also sources parts and components that are locally available, thereby contributing to the Philippine economy.
"We intend to continue this in our effort to help uplift the domestic manufacturing industry," Yamazaki said.
Isuzu in the Philippines has been producing and selling locally assembled vehicles, such as the Crosswind AUV, the D-MAX pickup and our light- and medium-duty trucks.
One of the vehicles that is proudly Philippine made from Isuzu which is yet to hit the streets is the Microbus, is a 16-seater all-purpose vehicle that is bigger than a regular van but smaller than a coaster.
It will be geared for mass transport such as the shuttle services now plying the roads. It can also be used as delivery vehicles.
The Microbus seats can be rearranged and can be custom-built depending on the requirements of the customers.
Using the NHR engine and power train from Japan, the Microbus is imported completely knocked-down from Indonesia and built locally by Centro,
IPC eyes to sell 40 to 50 units a month of the Microbus.
Utilizing the NHR chassis, this Microbus is designed to carry more passengers or larger cargoes compared to the standard vans. The seats can be rearranged depending on the customer’s requirement. It has a dual-aircon for that much needed comfort for all passengers and it can be installed with any additional accessories based on current market demand.
The overall length is 5,025 mm; overall height is 2,250 mm; and, its overall width is 1,700 mm.
The commercial launch of the Microbus is yet to be set with a cost of P1.3 million per unit.
Most of the components that went into the production of two prototype units were imported. The body is sourced from a local maker, Centro Manufacturing Corp. while the chassis is produced by IPC.