AFTER the government’s strict regulation of importing surplus units, the Norkis Group of Companies decided to shift from marketing surplus vehicles to brand new four-wheel vehicles.
Florante A. Casas, Norkis Group of Companies manager for Visayas and Mindanao, said the company decided to focus on brand new vehicles because it couldn’t compete with lower-priced surplus units in the market.
Lucky Cab was introduced as Norkis’ new four-wheel cabs with a target of selling 300 units by year’s end.
Norkis recently phased out its surplus line of Legacy cabs. but Casas assured that the firm would continue to give service support for those who bought the vehicles.
“For our Multicabs, we still continue to produce and market them but it is not that competitive because, despite the regulation, we still see numerous sellers of multicabs at really cheaper prices,” he said.
Norkis reduced production of Multicabs from 100 units per month to 60 units.
“Now we only assemble the multicabs and our motorcycles in our plant in Compostela,” he said.
Casas said he was confident of marketing Norkis new line of vehicles because they are the first four-wheel drive cabs in the country today with a 1.8 engine that runs on diesel.
“With the rising cost for the gasoline, we see a huge demand for diesel-powered vehicles like our Lucky Cab,” he said.
The Lucky Cab comes in three models, the regular pickup truck, the FB Supreme with a a full body van, and the Commuter Deluxe for those who wants to use them as jeepney units.
The prices are also 30 percent to 40 percent lower than other major brands.
“Because these are brand new units, they arrive here as CBUs or Complete Built-in Units and we provide full service and parts support,” Casas said.
The units were tested for ayear before they were introduced in the market.
“We started introducing the brand in July 10. So far we have already sold at least 20 percent of our target 300 units,” he said.
Meanwhile, motorcycle brands Haojue and Sunriser continued to show increasing sales since it was introduced last year.
“The whole motorcycle industry has grown on an average of at least 10 per cent yearly because of increased demand brought about by higher fuel prices. We expect to perform well in this segment,” Casas said.
He said people were now looking at fuel-efficiency when they buy motor vehicles.