Toyota starts out strong with 50% surge in sales

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) posted a 50-percent surge in vehicle sales to 7,062 units in January this year from the 4,716 units sold in the same month a year ago, due to the strong performance of two models.

“I am pleased to announce that TMP started the year strong in terms of sales. Coming from an encouraging performance last month, we are optimistic that demand will continue to be favorable because of positive economic outlook and new model introductions,” TMP president Michinobu Sugata said in a statement over the weekend.

“Just after the successful launch of the All-New Corolla Altis last January, this month, TMP will be launching two new models that are expected to boost our sales even further.”

Toyota is set to launch the new Innova on February 10.

According to TMP, the strong sales performance in January can be attributed largely to the high demand for Innova and Vios—two completely knocked down (CKD) models.

Vios, remains the country’s best-selling model, holding the top spot in the passenger car segment across brands, In the commercial vehicle segment, Toyota’s Fortuner had the highest sales since its introduction with 1,623 units sold in a single month.

Citing the latest report of the Chamber of Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi), TMP captured a healthy 45-percent share of the automotive market.

This year, TMP is set to invest nearly P500 million to raise the production output of its facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It hopes to increase the local content of Vios, which is being produced here.

“TMP will have to increase the production capacity of its Santa Rosa Plant by installing two additional painting robots to catch up with the market expansion. TMP will aim [for] a production volume of nearly 40,000 [units] as compared to 35,481 units last year,” Sugata told the Inquirer.

“On top of that, in the middle of this year, we will localize 15 more stamping parts for the new Vios at the press shop of our Santa Rosa Plant. The total investment amount will be nearly P500 million.”

TMP is highly bullish of its prospects for 2014 given the company’s robust sales performance last year

This year, TMP will challenge its set target sales of 90,000 units through the introduction of new models to the Philippine market. The company’s sales projection took into account the forecast increase in the sales of the Philippine automotive industry.