He may look like a very uptight person (with his piercing look and not the smiling type) but this man literary rocked his days with music.

Now that he is in Suzuki Motors, Satoshi Kasahara is now the Chief Engineer for the Suzuki Ertiga, the Suzuki Philippines’ current best-selling seven-seater Multi-Purpose Vehicle.

Kasahara told MOTORTECH TEAM that prior to his stint in the mother company, he was a drummer for a band wherein they played British hard rock.

Asked him on what songs they used to cover, he said that one of their influences was Deep Purple, who was known for the upbeat drive song, “Highway Star”. It’s just funny how a fellow Japanese carmaker previously used the “Highway Star” moniker in what should be one of the rivals of the said model.

Now being on its more serious side, the second generation, all-new Ertiga has a design concept of strength and elegance. The noticeable changes is the front grille that has a brick wall design that blended well with the overall fiercer look, which gives it a sturdy persona. The combination of light fabric, wooden panel and metallic chrome on gauges echoes a perfect resonance of comfort to the vehicle occupants.

Since it has a slightly stronger 1.5 petrol engine, it has complemented the rigid yet lighter frame which is the HEARTECT—which could translate to better performance.

The new Ertiga comes in seven exciting hues such as the Pearl Glorious Brown, Metallic Magma Gray, Pearl Burgundy Red, Prime Cool Black, Metallic silky silver, Radiant Red and Pearl Snow White.

The price of the all-new Ertiga starts at the P728,000 for its base model, GL manual transmission is at P848,000, P888,000 for the GL AT and the top-tier GLX is at P978,000.

You care to ask what does he do on his leisure time? Well, he does not play drums anymore but like many fun-loving executives of car manufacturers, he loves to spend his time in KARAOKE.