Toyota Motor’s exports dip in 1st semester but will rebound in 2nd half

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Industry leader Toyota Motor Philippines Corp.’s economic zone in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, exported $480 million worth of automotive parts in the first half of the year, down slightly by 2 percent from the $490 million it posted a year ago.

TMP vice president Rommel Gutierrez explained that the decline in exports could be attributed to a run-out of parts for the Vios and Corolla, given the “full model change” for these two models.

With these model changes, however, exports are expected to rebound within the second semester, according to Gutierrez. This is expected to allow the Toyota Group to achieve its $1-billion export target for 2013.

The parts being exported by TMP, which are manufactured by Toyota Autoparts Philippines Inc. (TAP), included transmissions, constant velocity joints, wiring harness, meter assembly and switches.

On the domestic front, TMP, meanwhile, remains the biggest automotive firm in the country with a market share of 40 percent to date. It recently raised its vehicle sales target this year to more than 75,000 units on the back of a booming Philippine market and the expected robust performance of its All New Vios.

This target represented roughly a 15-percent increase from TMP’s total vehicle sales of 65,396 units last year, and was slightly higher than the 70,000 unit sales initially projected by the company.

TMP president Michinobu Sugata earlier explained that they would have to “upgrade,” meaning to push for higher sales to protect their market share, as the local industry has been expecting higher sales of 210,000 units for 2013.

“We will continue with our investments as long as we can find the potential for growth. We will keep on investing in people, technology and local production,” Sugata had said.

The magnitude of these investments, however, will also depend on government support in terms of the measures and policies that will be put in place under the automotive manufacturing roadmap begin mapped out by the Board of Investments, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.