60 minutes with Andy

For us motoring journalists, one of the most interesting places to be in every two years in October is Tokyo. It’s a time when we get to tour manufacturers’ testing grounds, get to see up and coming cars, and interact with regional (sometimes even international) industry bigwigs. This year, I had the good fortune to travel with Universal Motors Corporation (UMC), the exclusive assembler and distributor of Nissan commercial vehicles. Nissan, if you might have noticed lately, has been steadily making up lost ground as part of the global re-invention orchestrated by their CEO, Carlos Ghosn. In developed markets, Nissan products have been getting very good reviews such as the Sentra, the Altima, and the Maxima. Here, Nissan (through Yulon Motors) has had its fair share of the limelight with the X-Trail when it was new, while the Murano and the Teana are impressive niche vehicles. UMC, on the other hand, has had the unenviable challenge of selling a small lineup of aging platforms in the face of aggressive, newer competition. Despite that not-insignificant handicap, one can’t deny that UMC has done a remarkable job of selling its vehicles – the Frontier, Urvan, and Patrol -, so much so that there seems to be a light at the end of its tunnel.

In between the unveiling of the all-conquering GT-R supercar and the Motorshow itself with its dozens of concepts ranging from the outrageous to the quirky, we had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Andy Palmer. I must confess, I immediately liked the guy, not just because we have the same name, but because he has that aura of genuine enthusiasm for the job. Dr. Andy, you see, is the Corporate Vice President of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Program Director for its Global Light Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, and President of Nissan Light Truck Co., Ltd.

Now, it’s one thing to get excited about a sex machine like the GT-R (faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo? Whoa!), it’s another to feel the same thing about any old truck. But light commercial vehicles (or LCVs) are nothing to sneeze at when you think about economies and business and money-in-your-pocket. Passenger cars are sexy, but LCVs bring home the bread, and most especially so for the Philippine market which has seen a steady increase in LCV sales ever since we found more value in pickup trucks, vans, AUVs, and SUVs than in the traditional family car.

And here is where Dr. Andy was most enthusiastic about: we have a lot of room to grow. And because he’s in the business of selling trucks, he’d like to take up some of that room. While other multinationals sneer at the Philippines as an investment because of our shaky (or should it be shady?) administration, Nissan sees huge potential in our developing market. I would hazard a safe guess that the coming years will see them becoming more aggressive in this segment. Affirming Dr. Andy’s belief in our market is the performance of UMC, more specifically its “Ur Van, Ur Business” campaign, which promotes entrepreneurship by educating buyers on how to make the Urvan a self-liquidating asset (like using it as a shuttle). As a car guy, I admit I find nothing at all sexy about the Urvan platform which has been around for very many years, but from a business point of view, to be able to sell just such a product in convincing numbers is a laudable achievement. It’s fairly easy to sell an all-new platform, but damn hard to sell an old one. When you turn the problem on its head and successfully sell it as a money-making concept, then you’re back in the game. You only need to go to the nearest shuttle terminal to see how well this campaign has worked.

And because of this, I suspect Nissan is studying the feasibility of bringing in an even more affordable type of vehicle since the Urvan currently sells for around P1M. Or they could come up with a vehicle that truly becomes a tool for its owner. At the Motorshow, the company unveiled the NV200, a futuristic van with a retractable, cartridge-style pod that could house a professional’s tools. For the show, it was configured for a professional diver, and the pod (which took up the cargo area of the truck) extended from out the back to reveal fold-out tables, lamps, and cubbies for camera and dive gear. In the real world, a production model could easily be configured for more mainstream uses such as mobile kiosks and hi-tech versions of our ubiquitous “Jollyjeeps”.

In the near-term, Dr. Andy is looking forward to how our market will receive the all-new Frontier Navara pickup truck which the company claims to provide the best value-for-money. The Urvan, he admits, is also due for a replacement, although for obvious reasons he wouldn’t say when that would happen. In the long term though, LCVs would seem to be the ugly duckling of the automobile industry, particularly for Southeast Asia, and most especially for the Philippines. While profitability is an obvious corporate goal, Nissan is looking into creating LCVs that would be environmentally responsible since they are developing “green” technologies for mass production, attractive (since he doesn’t think trucks don’t have to be un-sexy), and providing the best value-for-money. As we continue to populate our streets with all kinds of SUVs, AUVs, MPVs, vans, and pickup trucks, I’ll bet that more and more of these LCVs will be wearing the Nissan badge in the years to come.

Here are some of you Backseat Driver reactions from last week…

The actual F1 race was on Monday early AM. What Dong might have watched was a replay. – 09178079714 (Actually, no. I did watch the live coverage in order to make it to the Monday evening deadline. My mistake was to actually state that I was watching on a Tuesday. Very astute observation, though.  My apologies for the oversight.)

Yes! Yes! Yes! Kimi at last! (or the beginning of a new era?) After several heartbreaking seasons he FINNISHed this one with FLYING colors! I knew you couldn’t resist writing about it! This is one crazy season, controversial and very exciting. – 09194442453

Great F1 season! Hamilton and Alonso were so busy fighting with each other that they forgot about the best natural driver on the race track – THE ICEMAN KIMI RAIKKONEN! – Sophia, Angeles City

It was devastating to miss THE race! Thank God for that “real-time” article on the last F1 race you gave. I can’t wait for next year! – 09228218181 (Thanks. Some of you appreciated it and others, well...)

Couldn’t you find a better writer for your “Kimi makes history” article? – 09198202920 (Ouch! No, not really. All The STAR boys - except me, obviously - were already in Tokyo for the 40th Tokyo Motorshow coverage when we put together last week’s issue. Sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations.)

Also watched the race over cable... I stayed late just to watch Kimi take the championship... You described every bit of excitement correctly... I myself was at the edge of my seat... I’m a Schumi fan and after he retired, I shifted to Kimi and Felipe. Obviously I’m also a Ferrari fan... Congrats to Ferrari and Kimi... – spider518

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