MANILA, Philippines — Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) is pushing for an extension of the six-year period given to participants in the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program to meet their vehicle production commitment.
“We want government to extend the number of years of the CARS program because definitely we cannot comply with the volume requirement as originally set for six years. That was set under normal circumstances at that time,” Rommel Gutierrez, first vice president for corporate affairs at TMP said during the launch of the new Hilux on Saturday.
He said recent events, such as the higher excise tax slapped on cars under the government’s tax reform package which took effect in 2018, the Taal Volcano’s eruption at the start of the year, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have brought challenges to the automotive industry and affected vehicle demand and sales.
As TMP wants a longer period to comply with the CARS program’s production target, Gutierrez said the company is in the process of determining by how many years the timeline should be extended.
“We are calculating as of now what would be the appropriate number of years to be extended,” he said.
CARS participants need to manufacture at least 200,000 units of their enrolled vehicle model within six years in order to avail of incentives from the government.
TMP has enrolled the Vios sedan as its entry to the CARS program.
Earlier, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the government is open to review the proposal of CARS participants, as well as on having a longer period for firms to comply with the commitments without adjusting the volume requirement.
Despite the challenges, TMP president Atsuhiro Okamoto said the company’s assembly plant in Sta.Rosa, Laguna is set to operate on two shifts starting today to ramp up production as the market is gradually recovering.
Gutierrez, who is also president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc., said the industry has seen sales pick up on a month-on-month basis since May.
“We still expect sales to be about 30 percent down from last year, but we’ve seen for the past months, the trend is increasing. So, we are hopeful that in the coming months, sales would still increase and it would still be a better year for the auto industry,” he said.
Jose Maria Atienza, senior vice president for marketing division at TMP, said the firm is hopeful monthly sales could go back to pre-COVID levels around the middle of next year.
For now, the firm is looking at the newly launched Hilux pickup to help boost sales.
The Hilux has been a leader in the country’s pickup segment with an average 30 percent market share since 2015.
Atienza said TMP, which has sold 7,000 units of the older Hilux model, aims to sell 5,000 units of the new model for the rest of the year to bring the total sales of the pickup to 12,000 units this year.
Sherwin Chualim, first vice president for vehicle sales operations at TMP, said the firm is targeting men in their mid 30s to 40s who have an average monthly income of P110,000 to P160,000 for the new Hilux.
TMP’s new Hilux has an improved look, performance and features, and is available in the Conquest, G, E and Cargo variants at a price range of P843,000 to P1.83 million.
The Hilux Conquest, G, and E variants are in all of TMP’s 70 dealerships across the country starting today, while the Hilux Cargo variant will be available on Oct.26.