Motoring Today Column

Jun 06, 2018

Terra—Nissan's first mid-size SUV in PHL

It was quite a unique but apt regional launch for Nissan Philippines' first mid-size SUV that was held at the vast, fast-rising Clark Global City in the former American largest airbase in this part of the world.

The launch venue had all the elements necessary to visibly demonstrate some of the remarkable off-road capabilities of Nissan Philippines' newest offering in the local market like a huge steeply angled man-made gravel hill to show its almost effortless climb and a series of gravel and soil mounds to show its ease of handling off roads driving scenarios.

Presented as a proud descendant of the Patrol and thus having an "over 60 years of SUV heritage into its development" the Terra is a framed-based Sport Utility Vehicle with a diesel engine that packs 190 HP and 450 Nm of torque.

"The new Nissan Terra is designed to give you the confidence to take your family on exceptional urban and outdoor adventures by providing a no-compromise package," remarked Ramesh Narasimhan, president and managing director of Nissan Philippines during one of the interviews conducted right after the impressive launch attended by local and foreign motoring journalists and major local Nissan dealers.

For an accurate measure the Terra was subjected by motoring journalists to an actual test drive near the Mt. Pinatubo area to demonstrate its excellent off-road ride courtesy of a reinforced chassis,five-link coil spring rear suspension system and rigid rear-wheel axel. For 4x4 situations the Terra was also made to show other capabilities like a four-wheel-drive DIFF lock system as well as hill descent control and hill start assist.

During the launch the Nissan Intelligent Mobility Technologies, touted to ensure safety and convenience that are found in the Terra was highlighted like, lane departure warning, blind spot warning, intelligent around view monitor with object detection and the smart rear view mirror that allows drivers to see images from a camera mounted at the back.

It was a 3-day launch that took journalists away from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila for a two-night stay at the Midori Hotel in Clark, which offers multi-star amenities but "sadly sans bidets"-a common complaint especially among the meticulously hygiene-conscious motoring journalists. Something worth looking into, I suppose.

It might interest you to know that Nissan has started to take reservations and has announced the August 20 availability of the Terra with a starting SRP of P1.499M.

BYD continues growth in the country

My congratulations to the young top honcho of BYD Philippines, Mark Tieng for launching recently the BYD TANG plug-in Hybrid Super Sport at the Le Pavilion Manila.

If you remember it was BYD Philippines that brought in the first electric vehicle in the country, the E6.

The BYD TANG has a2.0 turbo engine, which can be plugged in a regular 220-volt outlet, which I understand can run for 80 kilometers on a single charge.

This launch comes timely with the country now slowly but surely acknowledging the importance of electric vehicles.

No mean feat for Honda Cars Kalookan

Our good friend Johnny Fetalvero continues to ride high handling the management reins of Honda Cars Kalookan, one of the remarkable top-performing dealerships of Honda Cars Philippines.

Being a car dealership that has been "numero uno" or Number One in Sales Satisfaction Index for the past 5 years can indeed be an enviable achievement. This came out from a third party customer survey based on the dealership's sales executives, dealer, service delivery and documentation.

Good job, Johnny! This comes a lot better than winning the top raffle prize of a huge slab of Angus steak in the annual STV Golf Invitational.

Happy Motoring!! !

For comments & inquiries (email) sunshine.television@yahoo.com

Motoring Today website ( www.motoringtoday.ph )

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Butch Gamboa graduated from the College of Arts and Letters of the University of Sto. Tomas. It was a course that should have been preparatory to a law degree, but the call of broadcasting aborted his plans.

At the age of 16, while still a student, Butch tried his hand at disc jockeying, landing a job at Mareco Broadcasting Network’s AM stations DZBM and DZLM. From there, Butch moved on with his illustrious career as a popular disc jockey, riding the airwaves of Bob Stewart’s middle-of-the-road music at DZXX, and ending his disc jockeying career at ABS-CBN’s DZYL and DZQL.

From there, he stayed on with ABS-CBN, covering live the proceedings at the Manila Stock Exchange and eventually entered into the world of television sales as an account manager for the premier channel of ABS-CBN Channel 2.

In the early 70’s, at the outbreak of Martial Law, Butch was one of the thousands of professionals who woke up jobless when then President Marcos declared the new status of the nation. With the closure of ABS-CBN, Butch ventured into different fields outside of broadcast. He tried his hand and with ease and success at export (Costume jewelry), real estate (brokerage), and restaurants (fast food).

In 1987, after the revolution, with the broadcast industry back to its free state, and with its irresistible call ringing in his ears, Butch made his inevitable comeback and pioneered in a local motoring show, producing Motoring Today on Channel 4 and co-hosting with local motor sports’ living legend Pocholo Ramirez.

After 4 years, he ventured into another pioneering format by producing and hosting Business & Leisure, which was originally aired on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2. The format eventually espoused similar ones in other different channels. But the clones in due course faded away leaving the original staying on airing on Channel 4 and eventually on Shop TV on Sky Cable’s Channel 13.

The following year, the pioneering spirit in Butch spurred him to produce another TV show, Race Weekend, also on Channel 4, covering circuit racing at the Subic International Raceway after the motor sport’s hiatus of 17 years. But when similar shows with duplicated formats sprouted, he decided to give way and ended the program after a year, although still enjoying unparalleled viewership.

In 1998, when the local automotive industry was in a slump, Butch contributed his share to help the ailing industry by producing another popular motoring-related show, this time exclusive to the automobile and its industry—Auto Focus, which became a vehicle for local automotive assemblers and importers to showcase their products and dwell on the industry’s latest technological developments.

In 2003, Butch teamed up with his brother, Rey Gamboa who was a former Shell executive and presently one Philippine Star’s business columnist to co-produce and co-host the TV show Breaking Barriers on Channel 13. It is a talk show that features guests who are in the news and in the middle of controversies. The program ventures to draw deeper insights into current issues to learn how they impact to our daily lives.

Today, Motoring Today on its 28th year of service to the general motoring public still enjoys its unprecedented loyal vierwership nationwide while Auto Focus, after 16 years has firmly established its niche viewership among automobile enthusiasts and on the other hand Business & Leisure is on its 24th year dishing out current business issues and lifestyle features.

Today, aside from writing weekly columns for the Philippine Star (Motoring Today on Wednesdays and Business & Leisure on Saturdays) and executive producer / host of weekly TV shows (Motoring Today, airs Sundays on Solar Sports Channel 70, Business & Leisure, airs Tuesdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13 and Auto Focus airs Thursdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13, Ray Butch Gamboa is currently the Chairman and CEO of Sunshine Television Production and Marketing Services Corp., President of Gamcor Management and Development Corp., Chairman of Asia-Pacific Realty Corporation, President and Chairman of Socio-Communication Foundation for Asia and Founding Chairman of the Society of Phil. Motoring Journalists (SPMJ)