Nissan PH will be more aggressive this year says its new president
“We will go aggressive this June,” says new Nissan Philippines President Yoshinori Kanazawa at a recent media roundtable discussion.
After what were fairly depressing developments, especially for employees and enthusiasts of the Japanese automaker, they are determined to bounce back by becoming more aggressive with their local lineup.
We are already seeing a good amount of this from the brand in other markets, with reveals of new concepts such as the Terrano PHEV, and all-new production models such as the next-generation X-Trail, and teasing of the next Skyline and Xterra. For our market, we also already have an idea.
Kanazawa-san specifically mentioned the month of June, which is when the upcoming 10th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) will be held. Nissan Philippines even recently teased what we can expect from their presence at the four-day motor show.
READ: Nissan has confirmed its electrified lineup for PIMS 2026
The X-Trail could finally be making its much-awaited local launch, along with the heavily updated Kicks e-Power which we saw first in Thailand a few months ago, then there’s the possible introduction of the Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid pickup truck and N7 midsize all-electric sedan–which could take on the Primera name based on available public information.
These were also hinted at by former Nissan Philippines and now Nissan ASEAN and Thailand President Masao Tsutsumi at the Nissan Festival, which was held in February this year, saying that all upcoming new Nissan models set to launch in our market this year will be revealed at the 2026 PIMS, with all of them electrified.
One interesting thing to note, though, is that it appears that the Magnite subcompact crossover appears to have disappeared from the company’s launch timeline, despite being previewed to the public at the 2024 PIMS. It is possible that the company has reevaluated its plans, especially with the growing popularity of vehicles with any sort of electrification.
READ: Navara is still the bestselling Nissan model in PH despite excise taxes, high diesel prices
In addition, despite the negative publicity the brand has received from internal developments, the brand was still able to receive respectable sales numbers in the Philippines this year. It retained its fourth-place ranking in local vehicle sales for the first quarter of the year, among members of CAMPI.
With promising new products to look forward to from Nissan Philippines this year, we also hope to see good numbers, especially for a company that is still struggling and hoping to make a good turnaround. Do you think things will be good for the brand locally?
