Nexus thread [merged]

[pajojo]

auto prominence parati inaaway or nagkakaproblema sa foreign counterpart nila... sa history nila mahal sila magpresyo..so malamang hindi ito mura..

1.3M ang kanilang 5 seater suv... manual tranny... meron din sila parang cross between alterra and everest and fx... 800k daw

[carlocaraddict]

1.3M ang kanilang 5 seater suv... manual tranny... meron din sila parang cross between alterra and everest and fx... 800k daw

ano kaya itsura nun? yikes

[carlocaraddict]

GWM Sing


GWM Socool (APC is planning to introduce this pick up here)

[carlocaraddict]

GWM Socool (soon to be Nexus Socool?)


Isuzu Fuego+Nissan Frontier=GWM (Nexus) Sailor

[oldblue]

The body is based on an Isuzu Axiom, but I think its without permission.
So when we buy one, is it like buying a pirated CD?

ah ganun ba! tsk tsk tsk puwede pa pala makumpiska yan ... sila Edu lang makikinabang

[carlocaraddict]

Nexus' showroom will be in Pasong Tamo ext, beside VW.

[eggman]

The Nexus Hover CUV ay nasa 1.4M ang 4X2 at 1.480M ang 4X4.Sa Tuesday ang labas ng lahat ng Nexus lineup sa Autostadt.......May Hover CUV na stock at display sa Auto Prominence showroom

[eggman]

Bukas na launch ng Nexus lineup sa Autostadt ayon sa salesman dun.Ang sabi saaki ay apat na types ng Nexus na panay SUV ang lalabas.Hoy Carlo at MBT 6 P.M kaya punta kayo bukas ha!!!!!!!!

[carlocaraddict]

Hoy Carlo at MBT 6 P.M kaya punta kayo bukas ha!!!!!!!!

wala naman kaming nakuhang invitation eh

[stormrider]

HARDTOP
By Vernon B. Sarne
The Manila Times
February 28, 2006

Ex-Audi distributor brings in Nexus brand from China

AUTO Prominence Corporation, erstwhile distributor of Audi vehicles in the Philippines before getting dumped by the German carmaker in favor of PGA Cars, is back in the game with a new brand. The company today officially opens its showroom at 2304 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City, for Nexus, a new but untested light commercial vehicle marque from China.

Nexus is so new and so unknown that I couldn’t get even a single hit on the Internet when I googled it. It turns out I really wouldn’t get “Nexus” results on the Web because it is just the Philippine-market brand name of Great Wall Motor Company Ltd. of China. GWM is reportedly China’s first privately owned car company to be listed in the Hong Kong Stock Market. Apparently, the auto company is now a decade old with about 8,000 employees.

GWM also claims to have a research-and-development facility with more than 500 engineers. But you have to question the creativity of these engineers because GWM vehicles sport designs that are hardly original. The Hover SUV, for instance, bears a striking resemblance to Isuzu’s Axiom. Even funnier is how similar GWM pickups in China are to existing models in terms of exterior styling. The Deer looks like the last-generation Toyota Hilux, the Sailor looks like the Nissan Frontier and the Socool looks like the Isuzu D-Max with the grille of the Mitsubishi Strada. That’s what you call “inspiration engineering.”

According to APC, Nexus or GWM vehicles were developed with an “Asian fusion” concept, featuring Japanese engines, Korean chassis, Malaysian electronics, and Chinese body, parts and components. Wow. Combine these with “Filipino roads” and you have a dubious concoction that may not pass the test of durability.

It is thus safe to say that APC faces the daunting task of building a credible image for this brand—something I can’t fully trust it to accomplish. I mean, seriously, this distributor has had a formidable stable of much stronger brands in its storied past. If it couldn’t succeed selling the likes of Alfa Romeo, Audi, Volkswagen or even Proton, I can’t imagine how it hopes to make a Chinese brand take off.

But then again, Nexus vehicles naturally come with extremely low price tags, considering that they’re Chinese. Filipino consumers being price-conscious, expect this brand to get lots of serious inquiries. The one thing immediately going against Nexus, however, is its two-year/50,000-kilometer warranty. At a time when three-year/100,000-kilometer warranty deals are already the norm, Nexus’ warranty offer casts a big question mark on its quality.

Kia and Hyundai—both Korean brands that used to be the laughingstocks of the car industry—leapfrogged the competition in America by offering much longer warranties. Eventually, the market took notice because vehicles with long warranties had to be durable, right? By the same token, vehicles with decidedly short warranties are obviously short on build quality. But APC, just like the rest of us, has no idea how good Nexus vehicles are. Hence, the anemic warranty offer. Again, the company is burdened with the task of convincing customers that they are not buying its vehicles at their own risk.

Available at launch are three sport-utility vehicles—NX-Series, Hover and All-Terrain—and a pickup line called the N-Series.

The NX-Series SUV is longer and taller than the Honda CR-V and is available in four variants. The NX1G is powered by a 2.2-liter in-line-four gasoline engine, while the NX1D is pushed by a naturally-aspirated 2.8-liter in-line-four direct-injection diesel and the NX1TD gets a turbodiesel. All three are rear-wheel-driven and have a five-speed manual transmission. For off-road enthusiasts, the NX4 has power on all four wheels while being driven by the same diesel engine found on the NX1D. Standard on the NX-Series SUV are a rear spoiler with third brake lamp, aluminum side step boards with courtesy lights, roof rails, chrome grille, chrome side mirrors, chrome door handles, side moldings with chrome trims, fog lamps, wood gear-shift knob, wood grab handles, CD player and 15-inch aluminum wheels.

The Hover, which APC hopes to be its bread-and-butter model, is a midsize luxury SUV in 4x4 and 4x2 variants. Measuring 4,620mm in length and 1,775mm in height, the Hover is propelled by a Mitsubishi 2.4-liter SOHC in-line-four gasoline engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Features include 17-inch alloy wheels, six-disc CD changer, rear window defogger and wiper, fog lamps, tilt-and-slide sunroof, four-way power adjustable driver’s seat, and leather seats and ABS with electronic brake-force distribution on the top-of-the-line variant.

APC is also offering a third SUV called All-Terrain (how creative). It’s a full-size sport-ute (5,160mm long, 1,895mm wide and 1,930mm tall) with a 3.2-liter turbodiesel engine. It also has 16-inch aluminum wheels and a seating capacity for seven to eight adults.

Finally, there’s the N-Series pickup line. The line has four models: N1, N2, N3 and N4x4. I haven’t seen these in the flesh so I have no idea which ones are the Hilux copy, the Frontier rip-off and the D-Max replica. The N1 has a 2.8-liter direct-injection turbodiesel, while the N2 and the N3 both have a naturally aspirated 2.8-liter in-line-four direct-injection diesel. Optional 3.0- and 3.2-liter direct-injection turbodiesel engines are available on an indent basis. All three pickups are rear-wheel-driven with a five-speed manual shifter.

The N4x4 has a 3.2-liter in-line-four direct-injection turbodiesel also mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. As the name suggests, this model is four-wheel-drive.

Auto Prominence says that Nexus vehicles will be available—starting today—at authorized dealers in Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo City. Soon to follow are dealerships in key cities of Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon and Mindanao. Those interested in this new brand may contact (02) 888-6550 or (02) 888-6551.

Would I consider buying a Chinese vehicle? Let’s just say I still have to completely shed my bias against Korean brands—to think that they are already nearly comparable to the Japanese.