Isuzu Phils hikes AUV production by 150%

Isuzu Philippines Corp. expects sales of its Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV) to zoom ahead this year despite projections of an industry-wide slump.

According to Isuzu executive vice president Hiroshi Ishino, Isuzu is increasing its AUV production this year by a dramatic 150 percent to 1,000 units from a meager 400 units last year.

Isuzu is increasing its production of AUV due to higher local demand and export opportunities in South America as well as to China and Taiwan," Ishino said.

He said the car firm has been able to export 30 AUV units to Honduras; 10 units to Guatemala and one or two units to Vietnam. He added Isuzu plans to ship its AUV to China and Taiwan.

"Isuzu Philippines would be the first to export to the region even though Indonesia is also exporting some units to Brunei," he said.

Locally, Isuzu ranks number three in terms of AUV sales with its Hi-Lander model behind that of Toyota’s Revo and Mitsubitshi’s Adventure.

Isuzu is confident of increasing its AUV market share this year with the introduction yesterday of its latest Hi-Lander model – the Crosswind.

Isuzu’s Hi-lander Crosswind model introduces a new innovation with its combination of diesel, automatic and turbo all in one.

The XTO automatic variant is priced at P768,000 while the manual transmission is priced at P718,000. The XT variant, on the other hand, carries a lower price tag of P655,000 while the XL model cost only P620,000.