The pandemic and various community quarantines has led to a depressed auto industry, with analysts saying overall vehicle sales in the Philippines could drop by as much as 40 percent this year. This, however, isn’t bothering Ford and their newly launched F-150 (read the full launch story) at all.

“Normally when a market is running at just a sixth of the volume, the top part of the segment—those in the two million-peso bracket remains solid and strong,” says PK Umashankar, Ford Philippines’s Managing Director. “These buyers are normally discretionary buyers [those with high levels of free spending cash paying all taxes, debt obligations, and other expenses], and because they have a good understanding of the U.S. market, they wanted a true-blue Built Ford Tough off-roader.”

Uma also reveals that the enthusiasm remains very high for the F-150 in the Philippines. He reveals that he personally has received dozens of letters or emails asking if Ford Philippines would bring in the full-sized truck; some have even asked him to import one specially for them.

“We wanted to capitalize on this, looking at the right time, and the right business case to launch the F-150,” he says. “That time is now.”

Understandably, Ford Philippines remains a bit cautious and doesn’t want to reveal its sales projections for the new F-150. In fact, Uma is quick to point out that it’s going to be a very niche market. “These are the buyers who want to go that ‘extra step’ from the Ranger Raptor—those who work hard and play even harder,” he says.

But now that the Ford F-150 nameplate is back in the Philippines, what are the possibilities of the country getting the badass F-150 Raptor?

“We wanted to bring in the top-of-the-line first, without compromise, and that’s why we brought in the F-150 Platinum 4x4 first. But we also understand that the Filipino customer likes to have a choice, and that’s why there’s the F-150 Lariat Sport 4x2 too,” he explains. “If the customer wants an off-roader that’s more luxurious and not so brash, then we already have the Platinum. But if there’s a clamor for something bolder, then I don’t see why we can’t add the F-150 Raptor to the local line-up as well.”

True enough, a quick look at the Ford USA website reveals that the F-150 Platinum is a higher trim variant than the F-150 Raptor with the former costing more than USD 2,000 (P 100,000~). Now, given the P 300,000 price difference between the Lariat Sport 4x2 and the Platinum 4x4, Ford Philippines has given itself breathing room in case they want to bring in the F-150 Raptor. And if that’s the case, you can expect to be priced below P 3-million.