Toyota sees Phl playing big role in reg’l production network

MANILA, Philippines - Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) expects local assembly operations to play a great role in the regional production network with the country seen as Southeast Asia’s next growth area for vehicles.

In a statement, TMPC president Michinobu Sugata said the firm expects to play an important role in Toyota’s regional production network as the Philippine is expected to have total vehicle sales close to 300,000 units in 2015.

“Toyota has been carefully planning the introduction of new products and increasing the number of our dealers to better serve our customers. We have also continuously collaborated with our local supplier network to strengthen their respective operations so that we will all be ready to respond to the steadily increasing market demand,” he said.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) expects the country’s total vehicle sales to reach 250,000 units this year, up from an initial forecast of 230,000 units amid positive economic conditions.

For the January to July period, combined sales of the CAMPI and Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. grew 26 percent to 129,687 units from 102,917 in the same period last year.

The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (AVID) has yet to release its January to July sales performance data.

As of the first half, AVID’s sales climbed by 17 percent to 17,902 units from 15,345 units in the comparable period in 2013.

TMPC said the latest vehicle sales data show that demand in the local automotive market is rapidly increasing on the back of the country’s strong economic fundamentals, growing middle class and Filipinos’ improving purchasing power.

Data from Toyota’s financing and leasing company Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp.(TFSPH) showed that auto financing for the middle class market with a monthly income of P20,000 to P100,000 climbed to 63.5 percent in 2013 from 54.4 percent in 2012 and 28.9 percent in 2011.

TFSPH’s data also show that the middle class market, whose age range is from 30 to 50 years old, is dominated by employed professionals with a 50 percent share, followed by self-employed or business owners at 28 percent, and by overseas Filipino workers at 10 percent.

The most popular Toyota vehicles bought by the middle class market are the locally-made Vios and Innova.