Toyota posts positive sales amid pandemic struggles

CEBU, Philippines —  The government’s increased acquisition of transportation facilities to combat COVID-19 coupled with consumers’ preference to buy their own vehicles lifted the sales of Toyota Mabolo Cebu distribution business in 2020.

Operated by Coast Pacific Group of Companies led by Philip Lo, Toyota registered an encouraging performance amid a pandemic-shattered economy last year and continues to  see improving trend in the first half of 2021.

According to Lo, the company served orders from the government for increased number of ambulance units, as well as purchases from individual clients, and companies offering car plans to their employees with the absence of public transportation.

The new requirement of new normal environment, which led to offering newer units for taxi units also triggered a good sales figure, which helped employees to continue their jobs amid the lockdown last year.

While sales was a bit below compared to the pre-pandemic levels, Lo said the market interest to own a private vehicle has magnified now, as everybody is facing fears of contamination specially in riding public transportation.

In the five months of 2021, the company noted a much stronger interest from both consumer and institutional markets, prompting the company to invest on setting up a sophisticated 3000 square feet experiential and lifestyle showroom at SM City Cebu.

The opening of the Toyota Premium Lifestyle Center in SM as an extension of the Toyota Mabolo franchise, is pursued not only because of heightened interest from the market, but also to encourage other Cebuano entrepreneurs to start opening up businesses to gear up the economy, explained Lo.

“We actually decided to open our showroom amidst the pandemic to inspire other businesses, other entrepreneurs to signify that this is the new normal we should get used to and they should also be opening their businesses as well, to keep the economy running and generate jobs,” Lo added.

The showroom is located in the lower ground floor of the SM City Cebu, beside Chester Enterprises.

He also expressed optimism of the company’s prospects next year especially that 2022 is an election year, saying the election will create economic activity not only in the auto industry but in other industries as well.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) had disclosed that the country’s automotive vehicle sales recovered in the first quarter of 2021 amid the global health and economic crisis.

According to CAMPI and TMA, vehicle sales from January to March this year posted an 8.9 percent increase compared to January and February 2020, which were pre-pandemic months.

“For 2021, we did pretty well from January all the way to May; not as good as (same period in) 2019 though, but we’re hopeful that we are on our way to economic recovery,” he noted.

Yvonne Bala, Toyota Mabolo vehicle sales manager, said their company posted 40 percent higher sales from January to May this year compared to last year.

However, sales was lower by 20 percent compared to the same period in 2019, which is not bad considering there is still a pandemic, Bala added.

They expect increase in sales from the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which will be acquiring service vehicles for their employees.