High breed

MANILA, Philippines - The rapid growth of global industry and technology led to the surge in the use of fossil fuels, raising concerns on future oil supply and increasing global warming.

In December 1997, the Prius became the world’s first mass produced hybrid vehicle, whose present models rate as high as 38 kilometers per liter of gasoline.

“Popularizing hybrid vehicles is the key to reducing fossil fuel reliance,” says Satoshi Ogiso, managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation. “Hybrid technology is the core technology that can be applied to a variety of next-generation environmental vehicles.”

A hybrid vehicle is propelled by two or more sources of power. In the case of the Prius and other Toyota hybrid models, the vehicle is run by both a gasoline engine and an electric motor.

A control unit splits the power in such a way that the most fuel efficient yet powerful combination is used under different driving conditions, from acceleration to braking. The battery is charged by the engine during light-load driving and braking.

Ogiso says hybrid vehicles undergo the same rigorous tests as ordinary cars, including vibrations, extreme water and temperatures, as well as electromagnetic interference. In addition, batteries are subjected to repeated charge and discharge tests. Used batteries are recycled.

“Hybrid technology is positioned as a core technology for Toyota, and since we launched the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle in 1997, we have continually worked to improve on our technology, and to make better, more fuel-efficient cars,” says Bernie O’Connor, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific.

Global sales of Toyota hybrid vehicles hit one million units per year in 2012 and cumulative sales reached five million in March 2013. Forty percent of vehicles in Japan are now hybrids due to government tax incentives given to manufacturers and customers.

US sales of the Prius and other models are also rising because of incentives given by state governments.

While Toyota hybrids – the Prius C and Lexus – have been introduced in the Philippines since 2009, sales of the environment-friendly car remain sluggish due to high customs duties.

While many countries in the region like Malaysia and Thailand offer attractive incentives for the assembly and importation of hybrid vehicles, the Philippines continues to impose as much as 20 percent customs duties on such cars, resulting in hefty price tags.

Only about one to three units of hybrid vehicles are sold a month in the country, compared to Japan where hybrid vehicles account for 40 percent of car sales. Global sales of Prius reached five million units in the first quarter of this year.

Many states in the US, particularly California, give incentives for the use of hybrid vehicles.

Toyota officials says the approval of a pending bill in Congress granting incentives for the manufacture, assembly, conversion, and importation of electric, hybrid and other alternative-fuel cars is key to boosting the use of such vehicles in the country.

O’Connor said the Philippines has the potential to be one of the top users of hybrid vehicles in the region, owing to its growing economy as well as increasing environmental consciousness among Filipinos.

“Incentives are aligned to the customers, and they help bridge that price gap,” O’Connor earlier told journalists participating in the “Toyota Hybrid Experience” program in Nagoya.

“I think in the Philippines, people are going through some changes themselves, the younger people are seeing new things and they want these,” he said, adding the countries in the region remain vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

Hybrid models available in the Philippines are the Prius C, the Lexus LS600hL, GS450h CT200h and RX450h (the last an SUV hybrid).

Rommel Gutierrez, vice president of Toyota Motor Philippines, said the Japanese carmaker has clear plans to expand its plants in the country to include assembly of hybrid vehicles for local consumption and export once incentive bills are passed in Congress and signed into law.

Last year, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 5460, which aims to promote the widespread use of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in the country and thus lessen dependence on imported oil as well as protect the environment by mitigating the harmful effects of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

The bill exempts from the payment of excise taxes and duties for nine years from the effectivity of the law the manufacture or assembly of completely knocked-down electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles, including the conversion of vehicles into electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.

It also exempts from the payment of value-added tax for nine years the importation of raw materials, spare parts, components and capital equipment used in the manufacture or assembly of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.

The Senate version includes non-fiscal incentives geared for users, including priority in registration and franchise application for public utility vehicles; exemption from number coding schemes; and free parking in new buildings.

Gutierrez says vehicle assemblers in the Philippines welcomed the commitment of the Department of Trade and Industry to unveil the motor vehicle industry roadmap this month.

He says industry players await the announcement by the government of the roadmap “as this is very critical to the decision making process of whether to continue local production or not.”

“The importance of the roadmap to the industry, especially the assemblers, cannot be overemphasized. The continued local production, which requires long-term planning, hinges on government’s strong and firm support in terms of policy and programs in place,” he says.