Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) expects to end the year back to pre-pandemic sales despite supply crunch, the weak peso and high oil prices.
TMP is also targeting to produce 60,000 units of the Vios and the Innova this year, almost pre-pandemic.
Jose Maria Atienza, TMP senior vice president for marketing, said Toyota has been gaining market share artificially from competitors which are experiencing shortfall and are restructuring.
“We were having problems with supply, it’s still there but we’re coping. Our job is to make sure customers do not wait too long for their units to be available, Atienza said.
As of June, TMP has sold 80,000 units, making it on track to hit 2019 sales level of 160,000 for the year.
As supply normalizes, Atienza expects Toyota’s market share to go down.
“Right now our market share is abnormal. It should correct with the supplies coming in from other brands,” Atienza said.
But Atienza said foreign exchange is a big pressure that has led to an increase in prices in January and in June, cumulative of 3 to 4 percent.
Aside from forex, logistics and other cost pressures are also a concern.
“We can only do so much about price increases,” Atienza said.
Atienza said TMP remains committed to support the production of Vios under the currently assembles Vios, its entry in the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) as it enjoys brisk demand.
Rommel Gutierrez, TMP first vice president, said the company hopes to get the incentives applied for under the production volume incentive (PVI) of CARS when it hit the 100,000-unit milestone last October.
“There is an audit process We hope to get (incentives) soon,” Gutierrez said.
TMP has so far obtained the batch of incentives under the fiscal investment support (FIS) when it made its investments in local parts production of the Toyota Vios at the Resin Injection Molding Facility for bumpers and instrument panels, Roller-Hemming Robots at the welding line, and the newly-inaugurated A0 Press Line for stamping of side member panels.
Gutierrez said TMP has been using the incentives for tax payment.
Under CARS, each unit is entitled to $1,000 incentive of which $600 is for FIS.
The CARS participant will enjoy the $400 per unit incentives under PVI on the 100,001st unit produced.
Gutierrez said TMP hopes to hit the next 100,000 units in three years. The first 100,000 was achieved three years after CARS started in 2018.
Gutierrez said TMP has been working with the Board of Investments to extend the program by three years to 2027 “Because of negative factors, the original schedule was disturbed,” said referring to the pandemic which affected production and sales of Vios.
As of July, TMP is 60 percent of target.
According to Atienza, demand has not been affected by rising gasoline and diesel prices which have in fact paved the way for the adoption of its electrified vehicles.
TMP said 95 percent of xEV users in the Philippines drive an electrified model from its Toyota and Lexus lines, citing figures from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines as of end of June.
A total of 1,013 xEVs sold in the market, surpassing the 2021 total volume of 843 and 2020’s 378. A total of 962 of the 2022 year-to-date sales are Toyota and Lexus models. – Irma Isip
