Toyota Auto Parts Philippines Inc. (TAP), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC), has invested an additional P5.4 billion for the expansion of its plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
In an interview at the sidelines of the Toyota Thanksgiving party held Monday night at the Sofitel Hotel, Toyota vice president Rommel Gutierrez said the new facility is expected to be operational by August this year.
“By August we will be doubling the capacity of our existing plant,” Gutierrez said.
Currently, the plant in Sta. Rosa Laguna is producing at full capacity with a total output of 180,000 units per year. With the expansion in place, Gutierrez said the number will increase to 330,000 units.
The firm exports the parts to major Asian countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and even South Africa.
The multi-billion peso Sta. Rosa facility will be Toyota’s fourth R-Type transmission production plant in the world in addition to Aisin AI Japan, Aisin AI Thailand and ToyotaKirloskar AutoParts in India.
From the time TAP was established in 1990, it has produced G-type transmissions and constant velocity joints.
At the same time, TMPC expects to post a 10 percent growth as opposed to the five percent industry target for this year.
To attain this, Gutierrez said they would have to sell close to 50,000 units this year. The industry target is 124,000 units.
Gutierrez admitted that this year would be more challenging than the last but strong branding and the introduction of new product lines will help them achieve their goal.
“We are the only car company in the country which has attained pre-financial crisis results in terms of sales,” he noted.
In connection with this, Toyota has launched the new Toyota Altis.
The car is priced between P774,000 for the 1.6 liters and P1.037 million for the 1.8 liter variant.
The last time Toyota introduced a new Vios was six years ago.
The new Altis, which will be available in March, is expected to sell 500 units per month, 200 more than the old Altis. However, during the first month of sales, Gutierrez said they are looking at selling 700 units.
The new Altis will be produced locally.
“This is our major launch for this year. We have no plans of launching a new SUV (special utility vehicle),” he said.