During the last Philippine International Motor Show in June, Nissan Philippines showcased a vehicle that garnered quite a lot of attention: the Navara Pro PHEV.

The vehicle is significant for two reasons, and the first is that Nissan will finally enter the PHEV market, and with a truck no less. The second (and perhaps the most significant) is that Nissan Philippines will be the first Japanese automaker to market a vehicle that is made in China.

The Navara Pro PHEV will be sold alongside the Thai-made Navara that we have in the market as a top tier option. The Pro PHEV is a much larger vehicle and a very well-equipped vehicle as Nissan aims for a more lifestyle and enthusiast type of customer with the PHEV.

Soon enough we will learn more about the particular specs and features of the vehicle for the Philippine market, but what will be certain is that it will have the 1.5L turbo gasoline engine with an electric traction motor integrated into the transmission. There is no motor in the rear to achieve four wheel drive, but rather Nissan went for the tried and true mechanical drive shaft system from the front to the rear axle. The 20 kWh battery pack is located underneath the rear cargo box, and can give the Navara Pro PHEV about 65 km of EV range (depending on the test cycle, of course), as well as V2L capability.

Now there are a lot of Nissan loyalists who will see that and think that Nissan may have lost the plot. But let’s be clear: that was the only the logical move to do for Nissan to maximize their manufacturing bases and the vast electrification potential of their Chinese market models that have previously only been exclusive for China. The Philippines will be one of the first to get the Navara Pro PHEV (aka Frontier Pro PHEV) from China.

The question that remains, however, is how much will Nissan charge (no pun intended) for the Navara Pro PHEV?

We asked Nissan president Yoshinori Kanazawa during our travels with him to Japan during the Formula E race and during the launch of the Kicks E-Power a few days ago, and his answer didn’t change. He says they will price the vehicle “competitively” for the Philippines.

By competitively, what he meant was that they will have to get close to the pricing of the only other PHEV pick-up truck in the Philippines: the BYD Shark 6. It certainly makes sense, but what Kanazawa-san said was that they will be competitive, but will charge a bit more because Nissan does have a big network as well as solid brand equity in our market.

The problem, however, is that the pricing of the Shark 6 has sharply increased since its launch. Originally, they offered it from PHP 2.098 million to around PHP 2.298 million, but now the Shark 6 is at PHP 2.388 million to PHP 2.618 million.

So if we are to follow Kanazawa’s logic, it is likely that Nissan will price the Navara Pro starting at around PHP 2.45 to PHP 2.5 million if there is an mid tier variant. If they have a high grade variant with all the bells and whistles, they could be pricing it at PHP 2.7 million.

We’ll know more closer to the actual launch date in October. Oh, that’s next month already.