Toyota set to increase local content of new Vios

STA. ROSA, Laguna—Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. Monday launched the third generation all-new Vios, which are expected to affirm the company’s leadership in the market.

In the roll-off ceremony here for the all-new Vios, TMP president Michinobu Sugata expressed confidence that the Vios “will recharge the market.”

“Anticipating higher demand due to this model’s improved features, we raised the level of our production capability to ensure that what the customers want, we can supply,” Sugata said.

This entailed an additional investment of P2 billion, which allowed the company to expand the production capacity of its plant here in Sta. Rosa.

“The result of all these improvements is a faster production line giving us a 10-percent increase in capacity from 30,500 to 33,300 vehicles per year.  We expect to sell more than that so we plan to actually build 36,300 units of Vios and Innova by the end of 2013,” Sugata said.

The target production of Vios and Innova for this year is 18 percent more than year-ago level. Of the total, the new Vios will account for 14,594 units, he added.

TMP is also working on increasing the local content of the new Vios to 40 percent from the current 20 percent.

The company is planning to increase the number of parts purchased locally for the Vios from 230 (in old Vios) to more than 300 in the near future.

“We will utilize our press plant to localize the stamping of additional 15 parts by July 2014.  This will bring improved press technology into the country and allow us to realize our vision of invigorating the Philippine manufacturing industry, which is very important in terms of its great potential for investments, employment and technology,” Sugata said.

TMP vice president Rommel Gutierrez said the company would likely to do the same initiative for the Innova in the near future, “as this would reduce logistics costs and import footprint for the cars assembled here.”

For this year, TMP is targeting to sell 70,000 units of vehicles, or about 25 percent more than the 56,000 units sold last year, Gutierrez said.