Toyota drives progress of local vehicle industry
Located 40km south of Manila, the 82-hectare Toyota Special Economic Zone in Santa Rosa city, Laguna, is bustling with activity. The excitement at the headquarters of Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), the country's largest vehicle manufacturer, mirrors the phenomenal uptrend in the local automotive industry. Last year, overall passenger car sales nationwide posted a record growth of nearly 50 per cent. At the frontline is TMP, with sales breaching the 100,000-car mark, further expanding its market share to 45 per cent.
Located 40km south of Manila, the 82-hectare Toyota Special Economic Zone in Santa Rosa city, Laguna, is bustling with activity. The excitement at the headquarters of Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), the country's largest vehicle manufacturer, mirrors the phenomenal uptrend in the local automotive industry. Last year, overall passenger car sales nationwide posted a record growth of nearly 50 per cent. At the frontline is TMP, with sales breaching the 100,000-car mark, further expanding its market share to 45 per cent.
"The Philippines is emerging as the next automotive growth area in Asean, following Indonesia and Thailand," says TMP president Michinobu Sugata. "Viewed as an 'economic bright spot in Asia', we believe that an inclusive growth is possible given appropriate measures from the government."
Sugata is referring to the Philippine automotive industry road map, which aims to transform the sector from a mere assembler of completely knocked-down units to an end-to-end manufacturer of vehicles for the local and export markets. For its part, TMP will increase the share of locally made parts for vehicles produced at the Santa Rosa facility to about 40 per cent by this year. To achieve this, the company will invest about 2 billion pesos (HK$346 million) to raise the local content of its Vios and Innova passenger vehicle lines.
"We're optimistic and grateful for the government's inclusive policies and programme guidelines, which address the real business challenges of industry players," Sugata says.
For the past 27 years, TMP has leveraged the respective expertise of Toyota Motor Corp of Japan, and the Philippines' Metrobank and GT Capital. Its successful uptake of the renowned "Toyota Way", or continuous improvement concept, has set the affiliate apart from other overseas production facilities of the world's largest car manufacturer.
Since 2002, TMP has consecutively won the Triple Crown award for being the country's top seller of passenger cars, No 1 in commercial vehicles sales and No 1 in the overall sales category. TMP is also the first vehicle manufacturer in the Philippines to obtain ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management systems. Worldwide, the global headquarters in Japan recognised TMP as one of the top three best affiliates in terms of waste reduction last year.
