Lee is new man at the helm at UMC

Nissan is known for crafting vehicles that place an emphasis on durability and reliability. This is one piece of information that Universal Motors Corp. (UMC) intends to capitalize on beginning this year as the 58-year-old assembler and distributor seeks to make fresh inroads in the country’s competitive light commercial vehicle segment.

“Our loyal buyers have known this fact for decades. While positive word of mouth has been attracting a number of new believers to the Nissan brand, it will never be sufficient. Somehow we need to reach out further, particularly to the younger generation and those who regularly use social networking sites,” said Dr. Wayne Lee, the newly appointed president and CEO of UMC.

As Lee, who received his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of California, looks to give Nissan brand of light commercial vehicles a fresh start, he noted that over the last few years, the country has seen a real explosion of social media sites and services, influencing the way Filipinos network, read and search the Web.

UMC would like to capitalize on this development in order to reach more vehicle buyers.

Convince

“There’s great opportunity here (social media sites) and it’s a platform with huge potential. We must convince the younger-generation people as well as those Web-savvy individuals and get them interested in the brand, convince them to try a Nissan whenever they decide to shop for a vehicle,” he said.

This marketing push bodes well for UMC considering that just recently, Nissan earned the highest score in the recent JD Power Asia Pacific 2011 Philippines Sales Satisfaction Index Study.

In the new-vehicle sales satisfaction, Nissan received a score of 839 (out of 1,000) after performing particularly well in the delivery process and salesperson factors.

The 2011 Philippines SSI Study is based on responses from more than 1,463 new-vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle between August 2010 and February 2011.

Confident

“We are confident in the quality and workmanship of each Nissan vehicle that we release to the market. In my mission to revive the Filipino’s love for the iconic Nissan brand, expect a number of exciting new models or variants to arrive in 2012,” Lee said, although he stopped short of revealing any specifics.

UMC’s current product lineup include the Patrol Royale and Patrol Super Safari sport utility vehicles, Murano crossover, Frontier Navara and Frontier Bravado pickups, and people and cargo transporters Urvan Estate and Urvan.

But as UMC adds new variants or introduces new models, Lee would also like to do something about the image of every Nissan pre-owned vehicle.

Over-engineered

“One of the endearing characters of Nissan vehicles is the fact that they are over-engineered to withstand the test of time as well as continuous use. From an engineering standpoint, a Nissan vehicle is a very advanced vehicle—the metal sheet thicker and better quality, the air con is designed to last for decades, things like wheel bearings able to take much more load than they actually ever need to, bushings more robust,” described Lee.

Lee said this is the reason why so many of their buyers hold on to their Nissans for so long or the fact that most of the public utility vans and shuttle service vans driving around the country are Nissan Urvans.

“While this is a testament to how tough and reliable our vehicles are, we also want our loyal owners to buy new ones and let their old Nissan vehicles be enjoyed by others. This way, we will be extending the Nissan ownership experience to more individuals and families,” explained Lee.

To make this possible, Lee is planning to entice loyal Nissan owners with attractive offers should they buy new ones as well as establish a sort of pre-owned program that would certify or ensure that the used Nissan vehicle is in tip-top shape and road-tested before it is sold to its next owner.

“I want our vehicles, whether brand-new or pre-owned to be enjoyed. With this program, UMC will be able to ensure maximum quality before a Nissan vehicle is delivered to its new owner,” Lee said.