Nissan PH will launch Frontier Pro PHEV and N7 BEV
New strategy to revitalize Nissan line up in the Philippines
Nissan is about to get the shot in the arm it has long deserved in the Philippines, as it will be launching two new models very soon, and both will be electrified. Actually, one will be electric.
Nissan Motor Philippines is set to introduce the Nissan N7 battery electric vehicle as well as the Nissan Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Yes, Nissan Philippines will start bringing in these two new models, and both will be from China.
This news is important for two reasons. The first is that this is the first time Nissan will be officially exporting Nissan-badged vehicles from any of their factories in China. And also, this is Nissan will be the first Japanese automobile marque in the Philippines to import from China.
This signals a major shift for Nissan, as the company has had to work under difficult circumstances. They have had to announce plant closures and cutbacks on their labor force worldwide to turn things around. And leveraging Nissan’s R&D, engineering, and manufacturing in China will be crucial.
So, what will these two new vehicles have to offer?
The N7 is their latest battery electric vehicle, taking a lot of the lessons Nissan has learned from the Leaf and the many BEVs they had engineered prior to producing a large four-door sedan. It’s bigger than an Altima at 4.9 meters long and is touted by Nissan as a living room on wheels with premium features (adaptive AI seats, enhanced noise insulation, and more), two screens (10.25” for the driver and a 15.6” touchscreen), and an advanced suite of safety technology.
The N7 has its electric motor up front that can deliver up to 272 PS, and can stretch its range from the 73 kWh battery to 635 kilometers. The key here will be Nissan’s technology that can minimize or even eliminate motion sickness by managing the motions of the vehicle under acceleration and braking.
The Frontier Pro, on the other hand, is a pick-up truck with PHEV drive. The vehicle is quite big compared to the current Navara at 5.5 meters long, and so it is much bigger inside with some really neat details (Nappa leather), and has a lot of technology, particularly with ADAS and for the 4x4 system.
What makes the Frontier Pro unique is that it takes a best-of-both-worlds approach by combining the ladder frame robustness that Nissan knows so well, and blending it with a plug-in hybrid system that still uses a center drive shaft rather than a dual motor. The battery pack for the drive system is located under the bed, between the ladder frame rails.
We recently got a chance to drive these two vehicles in Heihe, China, in -25C weather, and we’ll be reporting on that experience soon. What you can expect, however, is that both of these vehicles are set to appear at the upcoming Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) in June of this year.
And here’s another hint: the names may change. More on that later on.
