The way David Coyukiat sees it, diesel will be the way to go in the foreseeable future. Surely, as the Filipinos continue on their upward trend towards mobility, there is much room for growth for diesel-fed vehicles. After all, diesel is cheaper at the pump, and diesel engines are famously thrifty.
“We believe that’s the real niche because the competition is really on petrol engines,” said the Pilipinas Taj president and CEO in an exclusive interview with STAR Motoring. “Since our vehicles are more for the working person, we thought that diesels would bring us to a niche different from where our competitors are.”
As the exclusive distributors of Tata, India’s leading automotive brand, Pilipinas Taj is heavily banking on the marketability of the fuel type along with its own brand equity as it recently unveiled a total of seven new diesel-run vehicles at the Mega Tent Events Venue on Libis, Quezon City.
Two sedans – the Indigo (P525,000) and Manza Aura (P738,000) – join hatchbacks Indica (P545,000) and Vista Ignis (P678,000) in a quartet of affordable passenger cars. For more utilitarian purposes, Tata offers the Xenon XT pickup (starting at P805,000 for 4x2 base model up to P1.135 million for 4x4 M/T), the customizable mini and micro trucks Super Ace Big Boy and Tata Ace Bata (P360,000).
Coyukiat is confident that Tata can hold its own against more established brands (particularly Japanese ones) that play in the same diesel playground. He declared:
“The Indian market has concentrated on developing diesel engines, much more than the Japanese market. The Indians are well ahead of developing them.”
The Pilipinas Taj head shared that the demand for diesel power plants are high in India, so Tata as market leader there has obviously attained a measure of proficiency in developing and manufacturing engines fed with the fuel type. “In fact, (Tata) makes diesel engines for the European market, and they obviously meet stringent European standards,” Coyukiat continued. “The Euro 2-standard engines we are bringing in the Philippines are aligned with local fuel availability… Without naming brands, some Japanese diesel engines available in our market have been in use in our country for the last 30 years – the same type of diesel engines, whereas Tata has continued to develop (its engines).”
He said that in the same way Europe is familiar with diesel for its luxury vehicles, India is known for that aptitude, but for more functional transportation.
Thus, Tata is hoping to find resonance among those on the lookout for a value-for-money first car, and even entrepreneurs seeking the same value for commercial vehicles. “Tata is really meant for the working middle class,” Coyukiat averred.
Tata showrooms are located along Marcos Highway in Marikina City, Ortigas Avenue Extension in Cainta, and Barrio Pampanga in Davao City. More outlets are set to open this year on Quezon Avenue, Quezon City and in Cagayan de Oro City.
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