Toyota eyes 9.5% growth in exports of RP-made auto parts

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., the country’s leading automotive assembler, is eyeing a 9.5-percent growth in exports of Philippine-made parts from $305 million to $334 million.

The projected amount is equivalent to about 33,400 completely built up units of the company’s compact sedan model, the Corolla Altis.

Toyota’s exports to its affiliates worldwide accounted for 26 percent of the country’s total automotive exports of $1.66 billion last year.

The Toyota Global network includes the United States, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan.

Among the auto parts being exported to these countries are transmissions, meters, constant velocity and universal joints, switches, clocks, air cleaner, car stereos, fuel pump, air bag control units, hood locks, and wire harnesses.

Toyota said it will continue to source and promote auto-parts exports from the Philippines in order to provide wider areas for development of the automotive industry’s export activity.

In addition to this, Toyota will help auto parts companies to tap the global Toyota network. The Philippines is bidding to become the supplier of transmissions of all Toyota vehicles worldwide.

To encourage more export activities, Toyota said the government should grant incentives to assemblers and parts and components makers based on a scheme that promotes industry development. The scheme will offer wider opportunities for further enhancement of the auto parts industry, and technology transfer and exports of parts and components.

Toyota will also continue local production of CKD Corolla, Camry and AUV to fully utilize its production facility, which is currently operating at only 40 percent capacity.

Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan earlier committed to pump in fresh capital in the Philippines to expand its assembly and parts-making factory in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority has already approved Toyota’s application to add 53 more hectares to its 25-hectare Laguna factory. The project is expected to cost P50 million.

The Toyota plant is classified as a special economic zone which makes it eligible for PEZA incentives such as duty-free importation of capital equipment, tax breaks, and preferred tax rates.

The expansion plan has been on the drawing board for years as Toyota was forced to defer its expansion because of the 1997 financial crisis which dragged down industry sales.

Toyota believes that the Philippines would play an important role in Toyota’s regional strategy even though the country has the smallest vehicle market among ASEAN assemblers which include Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.