Toyota invests P40M to expand Sta. Rosa plant

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. is investing an additional P40 million to increase the production capacity of its plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, by as much as 18 percent to 39,000 vehicles a year, from the current 33,000 units.

This will enable the company to catch up with the expected increase in local demand for vehicles, said TMP president Michinobu Sugata on the sidelines of the Asia CEO Awards last week.

According to Sugata, TMP is on track to meet its target sales of 75,000 units for this year, boosted largely by sales of the all new Vios.

He said the devastation wrought by supertyphoon “Yolanda” may “affect sales to some extent” but this may be offset by the strong demand in other parts of the country.

One dealership located in Tacloban was affected, but TMP has yet to receive news about the whereabouts of some of the Toyota dealership’s employees.

Meanwhile, TMP is also preparing for an expected 9.5-percent increase in vehicle demand next year.

“This year, the [local automotive industry] is projecting [domestic vehicle] sales to reach 210,000 units. Next year, we’re projecting sales to increase to 230,000 units. So naturally, we are hoping that our sales will increase and as a result, we will have to increase our production,” Sugata explained.

According to Sugata, the planned investment is expected to “speed up the line” to raise the production plant’s output from 33,000 units to about 35,000-36,000 units by yearend, and to 38,000-39,000 units by 2014.

At present, the TMP facility is operating at full capacity with three hours of overtime to catch up with the demand for the all-new Vios, launched earlier this year. Apart from the Vios, the Sta. Rosa plant is also producing the Innova.

Aside from increasing its capacity, TMP, Sugata added, is also preparing to introduce new models in the first half of 2014, to further cement its foothold in the local automotive industry.

As of end-October this year, TMP continued to dominate with a 41.3-percent market share.

Meanwhile, Sugata remained optimistic that the government would soon issue the much-awaited road map for the automotive industry, as this will become the basis for new and bigger investments from companies.

“I can see clearly the [government’s intention] to promote automotive manufacturing and I think that’s good. But they are still discussing. Of course, the earlier they issue it, the better,” he added.

The proposed automotive road map is yet to be approved by the Cabinet, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said earlier this month.