JMC N820

Compared to a majority of other light-duty trucks, the JMC N820 has a very pleasant-looking dashboard. While the cabin doesn’t look extremely modern with flashy features, the impressive fit and finish levels and the dual-tone black and beige upholstery make the cabin look fresh and airy.

The two-spoke steering wheel of the JMC N820 might not look like something belonging to a modern-day truck. However, the all-analog instrument console has been designed thoughtfully with silver surrounds. The trapezoidal centre console looks wide and flows down nicely, and is finished in a theme of black, thus giving a nice contrast to the otherwise beige coloured dashboard.

The centre console of the JMC N820 looks modern for a commercial vehicle, with a 1-DIN music system with an open storage cavity placed right in the middle of it. There is another bigger storage cavity above the music system, which is flanked with vertical AC vents. Below the music system, there are manually operated dials for the air conditioner, which also get assisted with a 12V power socket.

The JMC N820 has a plain-looking exterior appearance, which looks very conventional and doesn’t create any new rules when it comes to design. The overall design has a boxy appeal to it, which is something very common for trucks.

At the front, the JMC N820 has a large windshield, which gets rounded edges at the top and curved but angular edges at the bottom. At the bottom of the lower corners of the front windscreen, the extended rearview mirrors are mounted. The lower half of the front profile of the JMC N820 includes a big front fascia with a three-slat design for the grille. These horizontally laid slats look slim and are stacked one over the other.

The headlamps mounted on the lower side edges of the front profile are shaped in the form of vertically laid trapeziums, with tapered upper edges and rounded lower edges. The headlamps are divided into three parts – the upper one having turn indicators, the middle one having projector bulbs, and the lower one having clear lens auxiliary headlights. There are additional small fog lamps mounted on the slim-looking black-coloured front bumper.

There is nothing much different in the way the side profile of the JMC N820 looks. There is a large side window panel with a tapering up shoulder line. The simple-looking door panels of the JMC N820 come with vertically laid door handles and unique looking clear-lens triangular turn indicators on the lower edges of the door panels.

While the JMC N820 is a modern-day commercial truck, it gets basic and heavy-duty leaf springs at both front and rear, which are perfect to sustain heavy loads with ease. The flipside to this, though, is the bouncy ride quality.

The JMC N820 sources its power from a 2.9-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which is available with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard. With a maximum power output of 150 bhp and a maximum torque output of 382 Nm, the JMC N820 is one of the most powerful light-duty trucks available in the country.

The JMC N820 is one of the few light-duty trucks available in the Philippines, which get the crucial addition of an ABS as standard.

The JMC N820 appeals a lot to truck owners with its modern and good-looking cabin, which feels very car-like. However, under the skin, it is a proper laud haulier with good load carrying capabilities. Though, it is not as popular as other Japanese offerings in this segment, with limited after-sales service hampering its ownership experience.