TOYOTA MOTOR Philippines (TMP) Corp. is planning to roll out additional conversion models for its Next Generation Tamaraw to capture more small and medium enterprises (SMEs), citing strong demand for commercial vehicles.
鈥淏ecause of the strong performance of Tamaraw, we recently introduced new conversion models,鈥 TMP First Vice-President for Corporate Affairs Josephine Villanueva told 大象传媒 in a phone interview.
鈥淎nd because of strong demand, it is going to boost our production, and we will try to introduce more conversion models to reach other types of customers,鈥 she added.
The Tamaraw, relaunched last year, initially came with three conversion types 鈥 aluminum cargo, utility van, and dropside.
Earlier this year, TMP added new variants including a food truck, ambulance, patrol vehicle, camper van, wing van, and mobile store.
Ms. Villanueva said that beyond Tamaraw鈥檚 monthly sales, which reached 1,200 units as earlier reported, the company is monitoring the broader pure commercial market.
Citing data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), she said that the pure commercial market 鈥 covering vehicles under one ton and over one ton 鈥 grew by 47.8% in the first eight months.
Industry sales rose to 30,446 units in January to August from 20,595 a year earlier.
Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque said that TMP President Masando Hashimoto, in a Sept. 18 meeting, noted strong demand for food trucks, camper vans, and delivery vans.
鈥淭he demand is so huge, so they came here to ask about incentives, the usual,鈥 Ms. Roque said.
The government is finalizing a new auto revival program called the Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement, which will offer incentives similar to the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program but with a lower volume requirement of 100,000 units.
鈥淚t will just be a matter of time鈥 because we want more manufacturers to join,鈥 Ms. Roque said.
In the January鈥揂ugust period, TMP retained its market leadership with sales of 146,357 units, up 4.1% from 140,654 a year ago. It accounted for 47.93% of total industry sales. 鈥 Justine Irish D. Tabile
