Toyota sets 2012 sales target
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. ( TMPC) aims to sell 60,000 units this year, the same sales target it had before a strong tsunami hit its plants in Japan and the widespread flooding in Thailand affected its parts supply chain.
“This year, we are expecting to make 60,000 unit sales. Last year with the calamities in Japan and Thailand, we ended up with 54, 590 units. We originally targeted 60,000 units last year, we carry it over this year. Without any calamities, I hope we can achieve 60,000 units, “TMPC president Michinobu Sugata said in an interview on the sidelines of the launching of the new Innova model in Boracay Island Thursday night.
He said that while the company still sources vehicle parts from Thailand, as in the case with Vios, and Indonesia for the Innova, they want to increase the production of vehicle parts in the Philippines.
“But we want to increase the local content for both models so there will be more cost competitiveness,” said Sugata.
As of January, data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. showed that TMPC still leads the pack with total sales of 3, 127 units. It is followed by Mitsubishi Motors with 2, 311 and all-truck assembler Isuzu with 727 units.
The local automotive sector is encouraging the recrafting of a local motor development plan, which will identify possibilities for market expansion, particularly in the ASEAN region.
The goal of the industry is to capture a sizeable share of the ASEAN market when it is consolidated in a single market in 2015 and to establish the Philippines as an alternative ASEAN production hub on the manufacture of motor vehicles and auto parts.
ASEAN economies are currently in the process of harmonizing vehicle standards and establishing Mutual Recognition Ar- rangement to achieve free flow of goods in the single market.
The local automotive industry wants to be able to expand the domestic production and sales of motor vehicles in the Philippines and eventually be able to export completely built up units and parts and components.
This year, the industry is expected to grow six to nine percent with target sales of 175,000 to 180,000 units.
Sugata said the automotive industry in the Philippines has the potential for further growth.
“We are talking to the government to create a motor vehicle development plan in the most effective way,” said Sugata. “Ten years from now, I think the Phillippine economy will grow. So it is a good chance to be one of the hubs in Southeast Asia. By 2015, we foresee a 250,000 to 300,000 vehicle market. So by then, we would want to sell 100,000 vehicles,” he said.