Jonty Rhodes aims to be game changer for Isuzu D-Max V-Cross

Now who is Jonty Rhodes? Those of us who have watched cricket throughout the 1990s, can definitely vouch for Jonty Rhodes, a man on the field who flew around, either taking spectacular catches or simply running out batsmen with his remarkable leaps to the wickets.

Isuzu Motors India now describes him in the most perfect words in their latest brand promotion of the V-Cross – “Faster than lightning”, “lighter than gravity”, “Beyond the laws of physics”...”Once again a game changer, always a game changer”.  Isuzu Motors India hopes for a miracle with Rhodes on their side.

Born on July 27, 1969 the legendary South African cricketer Jonathan Neil Rhodes, popularly known as Jonty Rhodes, is not a millennial by any yardstick. But then the company is not targeting the greenhorns, for its lifestyle pickup, the D-Max V-Cross in India. It wants Jonty Rhodes to attract the men among the lot. An accomplished cricketer, a good hockey player, a great surfer and an Indian at heart (his two children were born in India, the elder daughter born in 2015 in Mumbai is named “India”, while his son too was born in Mumbai in 2017), Jonty Rhodes will now be endorsing the V-Cross.

Jonty Rhodes drove the vehicle on to the stage at an event organised in Mumbai on August 16, 2018. Also present at the event were Ken Takashima, Deputy Managing Director and Capt J Shankar Srinivas, Vice President- Service, Customer Care, External Affair & PR, Isuzu Motors India Pvt Ltd.

Isuzu Motors India’s state-of-art manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh has a capacity to manufacture 50,000 units per annum. In the six years it has been in India (the plant is just three years old), the company has managed to sell just about 12,000 units. These include not just the V-Cross, but also the mu-X passenger vehicle and the commercial D-Max pick ups that it manufactures.

The company which has begun exports of the D-Max V-Cross to the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan is planning to export the vehicle to countries in the Middle East, Africa and Sri Lanka. The company is now hopeful that with Jonty Rhodes by their side, the sales of the V-Cross would steadily increase.

The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross is India’s First Adventure Utility Vehicle, and caters to those SUV buyers who seek adventure and want to stand out among their peers. The V-Cross comes with a highly capable 4WD, modern SUV features and a large deck. Available in High and Standard grade variants, the new V-Cross comes with additional features such as – Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with Traction Control System (TCS), Auto Cruise Control, Daytime running lamps (DRL), LED Tail lights, Rear view camera, 2-Din touchscreen entertainment system and Side-step.

Now it is to be seen whether Isuzu Motors India, with Jonty Rhodes on its side, will be able to pull off a miracle, one similar to defying the laws of physics, to increase the sales of the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Adventure Utility Vehicle in India. If that happens, it would truly be a “Game Changer”.