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Press Releases Archives
2013 04 30
Nissan Partners With Habitat For Humanity To Rebuild Homes
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2012 12 11
Nissan Almera Arrives at the Dealerships
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2012 11 27
Nissan Almera Makes its Mark in B-Segment
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2012 05 24
Nissan Goes the Extra Mile for Biodiversity
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2012 04 24
Nissan Promotes Importance of Oil Change
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2012 03 12
NISSAN Awards Top Technicians and Service Advisers
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2012 02 14
More Fun, Affordable Road Trips with Nissan X-TRAIL CVT
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2012 01 27
Nissan Advances To Become No. 2 Asian Brand in Americas in 2011, Reports Record Sales
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2011 10 21
Nissan Bares Deals for Out-of-Warranty Vehicles
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2011 08 02
Experience Mobility and Entertainment with X-TRAIL CVT
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2011 02 01
Nissan Welcomes Year of the Rabbit with an exclusive "Prolific" Promo
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2011 01 20
Nissan Unleashes X-TRAIL "Tough Rider" Edition
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2010 12 22
Lucky Customer Wins iPad in the "Great Nissan Car-O-Sale"
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2010 12 17
Nissan Awards Power-Up Service Winners
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2010 11 22
Nissan Slashes Prices for the Holiday Season
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2010 11 22
Nissan teams with SM Cinema for "Box Office Wheels" Promo
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2010 10 08
Nissan Opens First Major Auto Dealership in Bataan
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2010 10 06
Doctor Drives Longest Running Nissan Sentra
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2010 10 04
"Technology of Luxury" Unveiled with all-new Nissan Teana
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2010 10 04
Nissan Motor Philippines Celebrates 28th Anniversary
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2010 08 19
Nissan Goes the Extra Green Mile for Sustainable Mobility
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2010 08 19
Power and sophistication in the all-new Nissan Teana
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2010 08 09
Nissan's Superior Sedan to be Unveiled at the Philippine International Motor Show
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2010 07 30
Nissan, Laus Group to Open First Major Auto Dealership in Bataan.
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2008 05 14
The Grandest MPV of Asia - Coming in June
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2007 11 09
The new Nissan Serena, the modern lifestyle van
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2007 11 05
The new Nissan Serena - the modern lifestyle van now in showrooms
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2007 10 08
Celebrating 25 years in the automotive industry
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2007 09 21
Nissan Design Forum "Imagination Factory" in Manila
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2007 09 17
Nissan's Design Forum - "Imagination Factory" - Comes to the Philippines
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2007 08 09
Nissan previews the Nissan Grand Livina and Frontier Navara at the 1st Philippine International Motor Show
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2007 05 01
Nissan's new President takes office on Labor Day
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2007 06 16
Nissan holds "Imagination Factory" design forum throughout Asia
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2007 04 12
Nissan's VQ engine receives Wards's 10-Best Engines Award
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2007 04 12
Nissan Teana redefines luxury car market
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2007 04 12
Nissan Dealers showcase Teana elegance
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2006 09 29
Nissan Genuine Parts Super Savers Promo
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2006 09 29
Nissan's marvel, the powerful X-TRAIL and the beautiful Murano
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2006 08 10
X-TRAIL made more extreme: A Special Anniversary Promo for Extreme SUV
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2006 06 27
Nissan Dealers Ready to Service X-TRAILs Affected by Worldwide Recall.
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2006 06 09
Nissan Dealers Celebrate with Independence Deals.
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NMPI Makes a Statement with the Sentra I-Style
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Cefiro 300EX: The Most Powerful of its Class
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The Restyled Cefiro - The New Look of Luxury
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Sentra: One of the Best Selling Cars in Automotive History
Getting into the list of the top five best selling cars in world automotive history is no easy task. It requires building a tough and reliable car that should have an enduring appeal to the wider segment of the car market, even through subsequent model changes.
Such is the case of the Sentra, which now belongs to the list of the top selling cars in world automotive history, having sold more than 15.9 million units since 1966, and surpassing the Ford Model T's 15.5 million units.
Not even the most faithful Sentra owners in the Philippines know this little known but very significant fact. Yet it speaks volumes about the Nissan's heritage as one of the top car makers in the world, and how the Sentra proudly represents Nissan in the wider segment of the car markets abroad. In fact in many regions, including the Philippines, the name Sentra has become synonymous with Nissan.
"The average car buff may not know that the Nissan Sentra/Sunny is actually one of the best selling cars in world automotive history. All what we have been hearing is the Ford Model T and the Volkswagen Beetle, among others, belong to that elite list," Virgiilio Diwa, VP for Marketing and Sales said.
Before the latest generation Sentra was introduced in the Philippines in February of this year, the Sentra series since 1966 sold around 15.9 million units in 140 countries, easily qualifying it as one of the top five best selling cars in world automotive history.
The classic VW Beetle and Toyota Corolla, both of which started production runs in 1937 and 1963, respectively, had already exceeded 20 million units sold.
Meanwhile, the Sentra already surpassed the Ford Model T, which sold15.5 million units during its product life. Another strong contender for the top five is the Lada Riva, which sold 13.5 million units from 1970 to 1998, but mostly in the European market.
The first Sentra model was known as the B10, which was powered by a 998 cc, 62-hp, four-cylinder OHV engine. It had a reputation of having a tough truck-build quality, because it was assembled at Nissan Datsun's Zama truck factory.
Aside from a basic sedan, a sporty two-door coupe and station wagon was also built before the B110 was introduced in 1970 to replace the B10. In the Philippines, the Sentra was introduced as early as 1974 but badged and sold under the Datsun name.
It was only in 1988, when Nissan Motors Philippines, Inc. (NMPI), then known as Pilipinas Nissan, Inc. (PNI), introduced the Sentra name. Called the B12, it had front-wheel drive and many firsts for a sedan, including power doorlocks and windows, power sidemirrors, and the fabled automatic climate control system. Also known as the "box-type Sentra", many of these vehicles can still be seen running in Metro Manila's streets, with a good number in excellent running condition.
The car was immediately followed by the B13 variant, carrying the grade names Super Saloon, EX Saloon, JX and the renowned LEC. These vehicles brought in the slippery rounded surfaces and clean exterior lines as well as technologies such as electronic engine management systems and anti-lock brakes (ABS) as standard equipment.
In 1995, Nissan came out with the Sentra Series III-the most popular and albeit most powerful performer of that era. When Philippine motorsports was making a comeback during that time, the Sentra was an impressive winner, and built a track record not only for speed but also for reliability as proven in the 3rd Pan Philippine Marathon, where the Sentra logged in 31,000 kilometers around the country in 30 days.
In 1995, Jojo Silverio emerged champion in the first Subic Grand Prix races driving an unmodified Sentra B13. And in 1996, Joey Almeda and his Sentra Series III broke track records by registering a low 2-minute time per lap, eventually winning the first Subic Enduro race. The Enduro involved racing continuously for four hours, with an attrition rate of almost 50%, with all five Sentras surviving and winning the race.
Then came the legendary GTS, and the sporty Super Touring. In the midst of all of these changes the LEC soldiered on with the PS version and the full-packed Spirit before finally disengaging from production in late 1999 to be replaced with the FE.
More successes followed. The Sentra took the name Exalta in the next reincarnation with the STA and SLA versions, which dominated the sales charts for passenger cars because of its content and pricing. Further pushing its acceptance, the Sentra Exalta Grandeur and Superio were introduced and brought in a new era of "the compact luxury sedan," in the market.
The new Sentra was recently introduced in the Philippines with 1.8, 1.6 and 1.3 liter engines. The top-of-the-line model, the 1.8-liter 180GT boasts of features like leather seats, carbon-fiber inserts, ABS + EBD + BA.
With its fresher image, the new Sentras in the Philippines will continue to represent the Nissan brand in the wider segment of the domestic car market, and add to the volume of Sentra models sold worldwide to remain one of the top selling cars in world history.
"The fact that the Sentra reached 15.9 million unit sales since 1966 shows that the Nissan brand enjoys prestige and a wide patronage and many parts of the world, including the Philippines," Mr Diwa added. NMPINewsService
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