Isuzu Philippines Corp. formally introduced its new line of Microbus, a commercial vehicle based on the N-Series truck platform, to service the needs of fleet and mass transport.

With a chassis built by Centro Manufacturing Corp., the Microbus is powered by a 2.8-liter Isuzu 4JB1-TC engine which can seat up to16 passengers.

Isuzu senior vice president Art Balmadrid said, “Customer-oriented establishments looking for a dependable and affordable means of transport for their clients now have the best minibus the industry can offer.”

The Microbus price range will be from P1.3 to P2 million, depending on the interior components. Balmadrid said, “Right now, we are still getting a feel of what the market wants in the Microbus, and we intend to adjust or modify it to those requirements.”

At the same time, Isuzu also launched the 2010 N-Series trucks, which are now Euro-2 compliant and may be modified into commercial-use vehicles like passenger buses, refrigerated vans, fire trucks, cargo trucks and other carriers.

Isuzu Motors Ltd.’s Masahisa Kitamura, chief engineer of the N-Series truck who was in Manila during the launch, said the truck was really designed to meet the requirements of different businesses.

“Our customers consistently cite its durability, reliability, fuel efficiency and low maintenance costs as being the main factors as to why they choose this vehicle,” Kitamura said.

Isuzu Philippines said the N-Series has been the country’s leading light-duty truck since 1999.

Isuzu Philippines dominated the light-truck sector of the commercial vehicle segment with sales reaching 997 units representing 49.2 percent of the market in 2009.

Business Mirror

Tsikot.com Philippines