TMP on track with 2022 sales target

MANILA, Philippines — Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) remains on track to meet its sales target of around 168,000 units for the year.

“We are on track and we are doing several measures to reach that target,”TMP assistant vice president for marketing services department Elvin Luciano told The STAR in an interview.

Based on latest figures from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), TMP remained the market leader in the Philippines in the first half of the year after it sold 80,090 units.

This accounts for more than half or 51.71 percent of the 145,874 total vehicle units sold in the country from January to June this year.

On a monthly basis, the company sold 14,422 units, 28.3 percent higher than the 11,242 units sold in the same month a year ago.

Luciano said one of the measures that the company is taking to meet its sales target for this year is to come up with new products and services.

In line with this effort, TMP launched two variants of its Toyota Lite Ace, its entry in the light commercial vehicle category.

“So we expect Toyota to expand its customer base by going into this new territory,” Luciano said.

He said the company aims to sell around 100 units per month of its newly launched variants, particularly the Lite Ace pickup and the Lite Ace panel van.

“But soon enough we will be adding more variants to the lineup, variants that our customers can convert into various businesses like food carts and shuttles. So when we release that, we expect the targets to be raised even higher,” Luciano said.

Luciano said the Toyota Lite Ace line aims to cater to businesses, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Asked if rising fuel prices are a threat to the sales of vehicles, Luciano said the demand for new vehicles remains the same.

“Right now, if we look at the trend, we haven’t observed any significant drop in terms of the demand for new vehicles. But if there’s an effect that we’ve noticed, customers have inquired more about our hybrid electric vehicles,”Luciano said.

“People are now aware that hybrid electric vehicles can help them save on fuel and also these are also environment-friendly vehicles,”he said.

Latest data from CAMPI and TMA showed that sales of local car and truck assemblers remained strong in the first half, increasing by 16.7 percent on pent-up demand from consumers.

On a month-on basis, CAMPI-TMA sales jumped by 26.8 percent in June to 28,601 units. Passenger car sales increased by one percent to 7,457 units.

Similarly, commercial vehicle sales jumped by 39.4 percent to 21,444 units from 15,168 units in the same month last year.

“The automotive industry recovery is progressing as new motor vehicles sales reached an upward growth trajectory in June driven by pent-up demand from consumers amid the less than ideal economic conditions recorded in the same period,” said CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez.

“The industry is optimistic it will sustain motor vehicle sales in its current pre-pandemic trendline in the coming months, albeit challenging amid the ongoing headwinds to the economic recovery, which continue to affect consumer confidence and overall employment,”Gutierrez said.