The country’s largest car maker, Toyota Motor Philippines, has expressed support to the petition of parts makers for the government to impose a local content requirement on vehicle manufacturing but said components should be competitive over imports.
“We’d like to support (local parts makers). The complication here is what parts they can produce; what is conceivable for us to manufacture here considering there are alternative sources like Thailand and Indonesia. What (they) produce here has to be competitive,” Alfred Ty, chairman of TMP told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s media thanksgiving event in Taguig late Friday.
In the same event, Ty also reported that the Philippine automotive industry achieved a new all-time sales record last year of 474,000 vehicles from across members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc., Truck Manufacturers Association, Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors and the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP).
2025 growth seen at 8% Ty in his speech called for more automotive manufacturing investments in the Philippines as he projected sales to hit 512,000 units this year, representing sustained growth of 8 percent from roughly 474,000 units in 2024.
“This opens new horizons for local production that will help government in its goal of strengthening the manufacturing sector. I am hoping that we can harness the collective power of every automaker doing business in the country in realizing a more united automotive program to develop the auto industry into a major economic force in support of the nation’s long-term development plans,” Ty said.
Asked about the “ideal” percentage of local content, Ty could not give a number but said the highest local content achieved by TMP was for Vios, at 52 percent, to meet the requirement of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) where the model was enrolled.
“That’s very high. It is not just about investing, it is about being competitive, otherwise car makers will import the part (if) it is not economical (to source locally),” Ty said.
To enjoy the incentives available from CARS, TMP invested in the production of parts valued at P3.26 billion, data from the Board of Investments showed.
These include the production of body shells (P1.22 billion) and large plastics (P766.5 million) in-house.
Ty said that while TMP has yet to fully get its rebates, “We’ve been collecting in batches.”
The auto sales figure marked an increase of 8 percent from 2023’s roughly 439,000 units, outdoing the previous record of 473,000 in 2017.
“It is high time that we view the automotive industry as one cohesive sector contributing to nation building,” Ty said.
Ty estimated that the 12 motor vehicle manufacturers and assemblers and up to 60 brands and more than 400 models on the road should have generated up to P70 billion in taxes and 138,000 in the employment of direct and indirect jobs supplying parts or business services to the auto sector.
PPMA president Ferdinand Raquelsantos in an interview over the weekend said his group is asking for a policy that will set at least 51 percent local content on car manufacturing which will mandate sourcing from small local parts manufacturers like stamping parts, plastic and rubber parts and interiors like seat belts.
The absence of such a mandate, Raquelsantos said, has blunted the competitive edge of parts makers.
Meanwhile official data showed Toyota and its premium brand Lexus sold 218,019 units last year, a growth of 9 percent from 200,031 units in 2023.
Ty said this is another all-time record high, completing 23 consecutive years of its triple crown — number one in total sales.
At this level, Ty said the Philippines remains among the 10 largest markets for Toyota worldwide.
“More importantly, it helped us secure jobs for over 69,000 Filipinos in 2024 and realized over $1 billion.
