Isuzu said its new PUV was developed to support the Philippine Department of Transportation’s PUV Modernization Programme (PUVMP), which aims to replace the ageing fleet of “jeepney” public transport vehicles across the Philippines.

The Philippine market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw declined by 10% to 30,656 units in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 34,131 units in the same period of the previous year, according to analysis of data from various industry sources.

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, continued to deteriorate in the fourth quarter of 2023, with sales falling by more than 14%.

The market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw continued to grow strongly in the third quarter of 2023, by 18% year-on-year to 32,128.

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, declined by over 8% to 326,720 units in the third quarter of 2023.

The Philippines market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw continued to edge lower in the second quarter of 2023 following a strong rebound to 28,002 units in the same period of last year.

Hariphil Asia Resources Inc (HARI), the Manila-based distributor of Hyundai commercial vehicles, launched the light-duty public bus after it was issued with a Certificate of Compliance (COC) in July by the Department of Transportation.

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, declined by almost 9% to 308,421 units in the second quarter of 2023 from 338,668 units.

The Philippine market for commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw shrank by more than 3% in the first quarter of 2023 after growing by 12% in the same period of last year.

Sales of commercial vehicles over 2 tons gvw in East Asia’s seven main markets, excluding China, fell by over 2% year-on-year to 372,543 units in the first quarter of 2023 after growing just 1.6% to 364,641 units in the fourth quarter of last year.

The first truck to be assembled is a Dayun Dragon E5 3-ton payload truck.

Hino looks to compete in the LCV market against other Japanese brands in competetive SE Asian market.