JAPANESE carmaker Toyota is planning to bring back to the Philippine market its Tamaraw model, one of the dependable utility transports for the Filipinos over the past years, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Friday, February 10, 2023.
Marcos said the plan was revealed during his meeting with Toyota executives during his official four-day visit to Japan.
He said that many of the Tamaraws, which he described as the company’s “workhorse,” are still on the road.
“We have always been appreciative, especially in the involvement of Toyota in the Philippines over so many years, and I think the mutual experience between Toyota and the Philippines and the local markets has been a good one and the partnership we can look to as a success,” Marcos said.
“It is very interesting to hear your new plans for the Philippines and it’s very much in alignment with what we’re trying to do... we are hoping we are able to improve the situation for your supplier to be able to come into the ease of doing business,” he added.
Toyota is one of the major players in the country’s automotive industry.
Marcos said his administration is also looking into acquiring a vehicle from the firm for the use of the military.
“It’s something we would like to revisit, simply because we have tried many utility vehicles for the military but they really [have] not been a success for us,” he said.
On Saturday, February 11, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the investment pledge of Toyota is among the 35 key deals signed between the Philippines and Japan business leaders that are “ready to go.”
“May mga iba ready to go. May mga iba registered na sa BOI (Board of Investments)... na dinocument to meet the investments,” said Pascual.
“And there are those that [have] plans... over the time horizon I’ve heard from those Japanese investments I’ve talked to, goes as long as three years. Normally that’s the time frame within which big investments are made,” he added.
Meanwhile, Marcos said his administration is looking into the possible extension of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (Cars) program, which offers incentives for manufacturers willing to assemble mass-market cars domestically.
Under the program, participating carmakers are given six years to comply with the minimum volume target sales of 200,000 units each for their enrolled car models for them to get their incentives.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) and Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) which are both Japanese firms are presently enrolled in the country’s Cars program.
“It is something that would be important to the Philippines because we are trying to encourage now... both for local businesses and businesses from other countries and businesses from Japan... we are trying to encourage this capital investment to improve the share of manufacturing contribution to the GDP (gross domestic product),” he said.
“Right now, services are a large majority of the contribution to GDP, which is alright, and we want to keep that going. But we want to balance the contribution from different sectors of the economy,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)