Isuzu sees 5% sales hike this year

MANILA, Philippines - After a strong July performance, Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC) has expressed confidence that it will hit five-percent growth this year, despite supply problems.

IPC celebrated yesterday its 14th anniversary in the country. IPC senior vice president Arthur Balmadrid said they will hit a decent five-percent growth even as they were affected by a supply shortage resulting in some model upgrades being delayed.

Balmadrid said they are currently operating at 90 percent but they expect normal operations by next month. The earthquake and tsunami in Eastern Japan resulted in operational difficulties for Japan based companies including most of the auto firms.

Balmadrid reported that for May and June, their local manufacturing plant had to be shut down for two weeks for both months. Except for the Altera all Isuzu vehicles sold here are manufactured here Philippines.

In spite of the supply shortage, Balmadrid said that their good inventory has allowed them to manage their back orders to only 20 percent.

Balmadrid said they have decided to revise their original yearend sales target of 12,500 units to a minimum of 11,000 units because month on month sales have gone down by as much as 20 percent.

Balmadrid said 50 percent of their sales is still the Crosswind.

Last month, Isuzu launched the new Isuzu NHR w/ i-VAN body option, a comfortable vehicle that can seat 12 or 16 or even 18 full-sized adults and can even accommodate a cargo of 1.5 tons. Powered by a 2.8-liter with intercooler diesel engine, the NHR commands 91 ps power and 20 kg-m of torque, due in part to Isuzu’s direct-injection technology.