Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) said it could struggle to hold the end of the deal it entered into with the government in 2016.
When the market was still promising, the company agreed to make around 200,000 cars here. It was in return for P9 billion in fiscal support.
TMP First Vice President Rommel Gutierrez gave a response.
During an online press conference on Thursday that the company would not be able to fulfill its promise under CARS. In addition, it stood for the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy Programme.
The CARS project, under the Aquino administration, was a P27-billion government initiative aimed at taping three car manufacturers to produce a total of 600,000 vehicle units locally over a six-year timeframe.
Committed to Making Mirage Units
Just two industry leaders from the country participated in the program. The first is Toyota. It committed to making Vios units here.
And then, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines who committed to making Mirage units.
“The danger here is that there are commitments under the CARS program. Definitely, with all of this negative impact on the automotive industry, there is the risk of the participants of the CARS program.
It may not be able to achieve the volume they committed,” he added.
Last year, according to a previous TMP release, the Vios model cornered 38.6 percent of the market in the passenger car segment.
Back in January this year, according to a report from Autoindustriya.com, the company was still “on track. In addition, it was still delivering on its promise under the program.”
Member companies of Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association reported a 48.7-percent drop in sales in the first seven months of the year.
Overall, it sold only 105,583 units as opposed to the 205,945 units sold in the comparative period in 2019.
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