The Toyota Group of Export Suppliers exported $220 million worth of automotive parts in the first quarter of this year, a 13-percent decline compared to the same period last year.
Rommel Gutierrez, vice president of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP), said the decline in export receipts was due to reduced orders from Japan, the United States and member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
The Toyota Group exports automotive parts such as transmissions, constant velocity joints, wiring harnesses, meter assemblies and switches from TMP’s economic zone in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
The decline in export sales in the first quarter, however, is not expected to deter the Toyota Group from achieving its target sales of $1 billion this year.
“We hope that we will be able to catch up during the next quarters,” Gutierrez added.
The target $1 billion in exports is 4.8 percent more than last year’s estimated export sales of $954 million. The bullish outlook was said to be shared by Toyota’s suppliers, which are pursuing their own expansion programs this year.
TMP said last year that the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) had committed to help the company and its suppliers achieve the export target, particularly in the “processing of your requirements as you carry on with additional investments and expansion projects.”
TMP earlier expressed support for House Bill 390 or the Automotive Manufacturing Act, which was identified as one of the priority bills by the House Committee on Trade and Industry. It was believed that a “legislated industry program is an important factor for long-term investment planning.”
The executive and legislative departments have both introduced measures that aim to boost the competitiveness of Philippine auto manufacturing.
The auto industry is optimistic that these measures would help establish the Philippines as a strategic production base in Asia Pacific.
On the local front, TMP remains the biggest automotive company in the country with sales reaching 22,828 units in the first quarter this year, up 34 percent form the 17,061 units sold in the same period in 2013.
For 2014, TMP is eyeing to sell at least 90,000 units, up about 19 percent from last year’s vehicle sales of 75,587 units.