Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has urged for the passage of a bill exempting all manufacturers and importers of hybrid vehicles from tax payments saying this is the only way to reduce the cost of environment-friendly vehicles and reduce the country’s oil import bill.

TMP vice-president Rommel Gutierrez noted that its Prius model, the pioneer in hybrid car technology, has remained costly to most Filipinos. It is priced at P2.2 million per unit. Because of the affordability issue, sales of Toyota’s hybrid cars (Prius and Lexus hybrid) reached only 100 units since the introduction of Prius here in 2009.

In its position paper, TMP said it supports House Bill No. 1 or “An Act Exempting All Manufacturers and Importers of Hybrid Vehicles from the Payment of Certain Taxes and for other Purposes” by Reps. Ronald V. Singson and Jose Maria F. Zubiri III to reduce the cost of buying the expensive hybrid car.

Section 1 of the bill seeks to grant all importers of hybrid cars including its parts and components from payment of import duties, customs and tariff duties, excise, value added, and ad valorem taxes.

TMP welcomed the introduction of the bill saying it will help Toyota strengthen its partnerships with the Philippine government and the automotive industry in supporting priority programs on alternative fuel sources and environmental protection.

The Japanese-owned car company cited five benefits of passing the bill. These benefits are: Hybrid cars will be made more affordable to a wider range of customers; government will net positive revenues due to the increase in hybrid vehicle sales volume; purchase of low emission and fuel efficient vehicles will be encouraged; dependence on importation of fossil fuels will be minimized; and energy conservation policies of the government and environmental pollution concerns will be addressed as required under the Clean Air Act.

“The passage of the Hybrid Bill granting tax and duty exemption to hybrid cars is therefore imperative,” he said.

TMP said that when it introduced Prius in 2009 in the Philippine market, it tackles the global challenge of reducing CO2 emissions in order to help prevent global warming.

“The hybrid system has achieved the goal of nearly twice the fuel efficiency of conventional gasoline engines at a minute fraction of the carbon emissions,” TMP said.

Manila Bulletin Online

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Toyota Motors Philippines is finally launching its hot-selling Prius hybrid in the Philippines next week, but the ecologically-correct car could carry a price tag of around P2.25 million.

“Toyota wants to be the first to locally introduce hybrid, environment-friendly cars as alternative vehicles,” said Raymond Rodriguez, Toyota Motor’s first vice president for vehicle sales.

The third-generation, 1.8-liter Prius would be imported completely built from Japan and subject to a 30-percent tariff in addition to the excise tax and 12-percent value-added tax, Rodriguez said in explaining the hybrid’s higher price.

By contrast, Toyota’s most expensive sedan available locally, the 3.5-liter V6 version, retails for P2.005 million.

According to industry sources, the local Toyota has been given an initial allocation of 25 units and another 10 units a month given the three to four months of waiting time for Japanese customers to drive home a new unit.

Targeting the mainstream market, the new model is more powerful than its predecessors, with more headroom, a bigger trunk and better gas mileage.

It is rated at 50 miles a gallon, according to US press reports, 10 miles better than its principal hybrid competition, the Honda Insight.

By Elaine Ramos Alanguilan, Manila Standard Today

Tsikot.com Philippines

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) said there would be no additional expansions this year instead the country’s biggest car company will be launching its eco-friendly Prius model, work on some initiatives to stop other car companies from further eating into its market share and new financing schemes for its volume models.

Saying they are technically ready, TMPC president Hiroshi Ito said they are launching Prius in the local market by middle of this year.

“We are technically ready now. We have completed all the technical adjustments,” Ito said but he refused to give any details of the launch. TMPC has already briefed its dealers about the coming of Prius into the local market.

With the forthcoming launch of Prius, Ito expects some kind of assistance that is “generous as possible” from the government to promote this environment-friendly vehicle.

Prius will be imported completely built up from Japan, the only source of Toyota’s hybrid car.

As far as 2007, TMP said it was doing “technical” adjustments for its hybrid car Prius to fit road conditions in the Philippines as well as other developing countries.

A number of Prius units were brought to the Philippines so they can be tested under local road and traffic situations.

Ito said then that while Prius will eventually be sold in the domestic market, it make take some time before the world-renowned and environment-friendly Prius could commercially ply Philippine roads.

“The problem is technical. As our responsibility as manufacturer, we want to make sure there is no problem [with the car] even with bad roads,” Ito said.

The Prius is powered by a combination of electric and conventional internal combustion engines. Either the engine or the battery or both can power the vehicle, depending on conditions. This feature gives the vehicle the acceleration and power of a standard automobile, which has a larger gasoline-burning engine.

On the other hand, Alfred Ty, TMPC vice-chairman, told reporters at the launch of Lexus RX350 that the company is looking at ways to protect its market share.

“Capital expenditure will not be substantial this year. This is not the right time to invest more because of the global financial crisis but we are looking at sustaining our operations,” Ty said.

But the company cannot just sit down and watch its market share being slowly diminished by the car models of other companies because they do not have a model in these specific categories.

“Seven years of triple crown, we cannot just sit on it,” Ty said. These moves, however, do not require additional capital expenditures saying this is not the right time to invest.

For this year, the company will be launching few model completely built up models.

Ty also acknowledged that the company’s absence in the smaller and more affordable cars have cost them a few points in its market share. TMPC’s market share in 2008 was down to 36.07 percent from 38.2 percent in 2007 as other small but more affordable cars of other car companies cornered this category.

“We will look and study at that, we are watching that closely because we cannot take that for granted,” Ty said.

“We are working on it,” he added.

While TMPC’s Vios and Innova are its bread and butter models and the number one brands in their categories still these could not fill the absence in the small car category in terms.

Dexter Pasion, president of Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp., also said that the company is coming out with financing schemes for its volume brands such as Innova, Vios and Altis.

The company is launching its lease-finance or lease to own scheme where the vehicle is registered under Toyota and not under the name of the buyer. Under this scheme, the buyer is free from paying the chattel mortgage fees which could amount between P18,000 to P20,000 excluding interest.

This promo is good for 30 days only exclusive only for the Toyota group.

TMPC is also maintaining its low down payment schemes of 10 percent and 72 months payment period as against the standard financing schemes of banks of 20 percent down payment and 48 months to pay.

by Bernie Cachiles-Magkilat, Manila Bulletin

Tsikot.com Philippines

The Philippines needs it.

Akira Okabe, senior managing director of Toyota Motor Corp., affirmed the giant car manufacturer’s commitment to bring energy-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles to the Philippines.

While Okabe would not reveal the timetable for the Philippine introduction of Toyota’s hybrids – including the Toyota Prius and the high-end Lexus hybrids – he said developing countries like the Philippines need hybrid vehicles that will meet the country’s growing transport needs as well as environmental demands such as lower carbon dioxide emissions.Alfred Ty, chairman of Lexus Manila and vice chairman of Toyota Motor Philippines, told The STAR during last Wednesday’s inauguration of Lexus Manila’s new showroom at the Bonifacio Global City they have been working on bringing the hybrid cars to Manila, but there are some considerations that have to be worked out, including the performance of the car in the country’s wet climate and less than ideal road conditions.

“But hopefully within the year, we can do something,” Ty said.

The Prius is currently manufactured in Toyota plants in the US and Japan. Lexus announced at the auto show in Detroit earlier this month that it will roll out its first dedicated hybrid car this summer. Lexus has sold over 157,000 luxury hybrids since the first model was introduced in 2005. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly drives a Lexus hybrid.

Ty pointed out that a hybrid will be more expensive than a conventional car of the same size, since the technology that enables the vehicle to switch from fuel to electricity is much more costly.

“In other countries, governments subsidize the development and use of such technology,” Ty said, thus enabling wider consumer application. No such incentives are in place in the Philippines.

“But there are some proposals to that effect,” Ty added, without going into specifics.

Okabe, who was special guest at the three-day Lexus Manila inauguration, confirmed reports that despite an expected operating loss for the current fiscal year, Toyota is not cutting back on research and development of fuel-efficient and next generation ecological vehicles.

Toyota is the acknowledged leader in green automotive technology, and is reportedly also working on a solar-powered electric car.

Last December, Toyota Motor Corp. president Katsuaki Watanabe announced an expected operating loss of Y150 billion ($1.7 billion) for the current fiscal year ending March 31. It is the first such loss for the company in 70 years, its first since 1938, a year after the company was founded. The loss comes after eight consecutive years of record profits, and underscores the spread of the current economic crisis across the globe.

The push towards ecological vehicles is also seen as an effort to turn around the struggling automotive business.

Okabe stressed that the development of such green technology will be promoted “much more,” especially for developing countries.

“We cannot kill the earth,” said Okabe, who is also chief of Toyota’s Asia, Oceania and Middle East Operations Group.

By Doreen Yu, Philippine Star

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