Toyota unveils sporty variant of Vios model

MANILA, Philippines — Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) has launched a sporty variant of its bestselling model Vios, a move seen to boost sales of locally assembled vehicles at a time safeguard measures are in place for vehicle imports, and help achieve its production commitment under the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.

During the online launch of the Vios GR Sport (GR-S) Wednesday, Sherwin Chualim, first vice president for marketing at TMP said the firm is aiming to sell around 50 units per month of the new variant or around 1.67 percent of total Vios sales.

Jose Maria Atienza, senior vice president for marketing at TMP, said in the same event the vehicle forms part of efforts to promote sales of locally assembled vehicles.

He said the vehicle launch was already in the works even prior to the imposition of the provisional safeguard duties on vehicle imports.

“This type of product requires some advance planning and we started like one and a half years ago including assistance from regional Toyota office and engineering. So during that time, safeguard duties were not considered. But yes, in general, this is one of those additional efforts for Toyota to enhance our sales of our CKD (completely-knocked down) models, Vios being our number one model and bestselling model at that,” he said.

TMP president Atsuhiro Okamoto said the Vios GR-S would be assembled at its plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Earlier this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) imposed provisional safeguard duties amounting to P70,000 for an imported passenger car and P110,000 for a light commercial vehicle unit brought in from overseas, to support local vehicle manufacturing.

The DTI’s decision was made after its evaluation of a petition filed by the Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance showed higher vehicle imports are causing injury to the local motor vehicle manufacturing industry.

Rommel Gutierrez, first vice president for corporate affairs at TMP, said the Vios GR-S would also form part of the firm’s commitment to produce at least 200,000 units of its enrolled vehicle model Vios under the CARS program.

The CARS program being implemented by the DTI provides incentives to participants in exchange for the manufacture of at least 200,000 units of the enrolled vehicle model within six years.

Gutierrez said TMP, which is seeking for a longer period to comply with the CARS production target given challenges posed by the pandemic, continues discussions with the DTI and is hopeful of a favorable response.

“DTI understands the necessity and the CARS program needs to be extended, the period. We are quite positive with the decision of DTI. We understand it is not only DTI who is going to decide on that but we gather DTI favorably recommended the extension of the CARS program,” he said.

For the Vios GR-S, TMP is targeting a younger group of car buyers looking for a sedan that stands out.

The Vios GR-S is available at a price range of P1.020 million to P1.035 million.