Toyota Philippines exports up 23% to $850M in 2010

MANILA, Philippines -  Exports of the Toyota Group went up by 23 percent last year as volume demand worldwide went up.

In a text message, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) vice president Rommel Gutierrez said that total exports for 2010 amounted close to $850 million.

Gutierrez said exports of transmissions and constant velocity joints by Toyota Auto Parts (TAP) accounted for the biggest share.

He said that TAP itself registered an increase of 42 percent, reaching close to $200 million in export sales in 2010.

Gutierrez explained that the increase in volume demand is the main reason for such good performance. In fact, Toyota is looking forward to a good 2011 as it is expected to grow with the industry this year.

“In relation to our sales targets, we agree with CAMPI’s (Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc) initial forecast of four to five percent,” Yuji Goto, executive vice president of TMP said.

In 2010, sales of Toyota grew by 23 percent to 56,855 units from 46,193 units in 2009. Goto said that the high performance last year was because of the twin floods Ondoy and Pepeng and the elections. A number of vehicles were damaged during the latter part of 2009 and owners had to replace their cars which resulted in high sales for 2010. Likewise, election years are usually robust because it boosts consumer spending.

“Since market performance last year was exceptional due to the success of the national elections and spillover effect of urban flooding, we expect this year that the market to go back to its normal course,” Goto said.

“We are positive that 2011 will benefit from the strong momentum as consumer confidence and local economy continues to grow,” he added.

According to Goto, the growth this year will be fueled by strong consumer spending and a stable economy.

“Similar to the previous year, we believe that the local economy will play a significant role in the growth of the auto industry with the robust influx of OFW remittances, strong peso and continuous stability of the government,” Goto said.

Likewise, he noted that market competition will result in new product introductions and aggressive sales promotions of industry players.