Locally assembled. The all-new Vios represents another significant milestone in Toyota’s presence in the Philippines. The vehicle is now being assembled in Toyota’s plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

BEING the market leader comes with social responsibilities, such as creating more jobs and encouraging more investments.

With this in mind, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) hit another milestone in the local motor industry as it churned out the first of the Vios cars made in the country and presented them in a historic line-off last week at its plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

The introduction of the all-new Vios, which aims to continue its domination of the passenger-car division, coincided with the 19th anniversary of the company.

“With the completely knockeddown Vios, we are expanding our local operation and contributing to the growth of the Philippine automotive industry. Today, Toyota Motor Philippines is the leading vehicle company in the country and we are not only committed to meet the dynamic needs of our customers but we are also proud to be a continuing partner of the Philippine government in building this great nation,” said TMP chairman Dr. George S. K. Ty in his welcome remarks to all guests led by the Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila.

Dr. Ty added that his company “takes pride in contributing to economic development as it had already invested P20 billion, produced more than 280,000 vehicles and remitted over P70 billion in taxes and custom duties since Toyota Motor Philippines was set up in 1988.” This year alone, Toyota is putting in another P1 billion with its Vios Localization Project.

First batch. Kazuhiko Takarada, Toyota Motor Corp. managing officer; Erwin Viduya, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. labor management council chairman; and Hiroshi Ito, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. president, pour champagne on a Vios during the model’s roll-off ceremony.

True to his words, Toyota this year had reported exports reaching $542 million, which amounts to 27 percent of the total Philippine automotive exports, according to Dr. Ty. “And we are doing our share by employing 1,900 team members in TMP with another 11,000 people in our network of dealers and suppliers.

“Our company and its team members are giving of themselves and living up to the highest standards of good corporate citizenship. Toyota welcomes the responsibility that comes with leadership. Together with the Philippine government, we are making our best effort to help move the automotive industry and the Philippine economy forward. With the all-new CKD Vios, Toyota is ready to drive the future,” said Dr. Ty as he was met with thundering applause from all the guests and workers at the huge plant.

For his part, TMP president Hiroshi Ito was oozing with confidence as he declared that “by the end of the year, TMP will finally break the all-time sales record that Toyota set back in 1996.” He added that the local vehicles sales have significantly improved “so we are confident that the outstanding qualities of the new Vios will further energize the market. Certainly, it takes our passenger-car lineup to a whole new level.”

Aside from Secretary Favila, other VIPs present were Kasuhiko Takarada, managing officer of Toyota Motor Corp.; TMP vice chairman Alfred Ty; TMP executive vice presidents Kenji Nakashima and Kenji Kitamura; Mazakazu Nagai, general manager for the Manila branch of Mitsui & Co. Ltd.; Toyota Motor Asia-Pacific Co. Ltd. executive managing coordinator Tadahisa Isono; TMP executive vice president David Go; TMP first vice president Santos Guerrero, senior vice president Daniel Isla and DTI undersecretary Elmer Hernandez.

The localization of Vios is expected to increase TMP’s current monthly output of 1,100 units to 2,300 and will also support local parts suppliers.

“Even at the planning stage, TMC and TMP set out to achieve maximum local procurement of parts like air-conditioning units, tires, windshields and wheel discs in the Philippines. I am glad to note that we have achieved this objective already,” said TMC managing officer Kazuhiko Takarada, who has been working closely with TMP “to realize the high level of quality in all production processes just like in Japan.”

The all-new Vios is now available in five variants: 1.5G leather automatic transmission priced at P811,000; 1.5G automatic at P765,000; and manual transmission at P730,000; 1.3E manual transmission at P649,000 and the 1.3J manual transmission at P575,000. It comes in seven shades such as super white, medium silver metallic, red mica metallic, beige metallic, grayish blue metallic, black and silver metallic.

BEING the market leader comes with social responsibilities, such as creating more jobs and encouraging more investments.

VERY seldom will a fast car feel soft. Speed always disregards comfort. That is why most fast cars have stiff, hard rides. Not that it is the whim of fast car drivers—there are other safety and technical issues that have to be considered after all. But we will not go into that in detail. Let’s just say that fast cars naturally need stiffer rides for balance, handling and safety.

EYES ON THE ROAD: Options to choose from

DESPITE the steady increase in fuel prices, lots of motorists are still plying the streets of the metropolis seemingly unmindful of the heavy, daylong traffic.

AUDI has always been known to live up to its tagline of “vorsprung durch technik,” or advancement through technology. Whether it’s the R8 sports car or its A3 hatchback, every car from Ingolstadt (Audi’s head office) in Germany—including base models—is full of technological headway that can wow even the most jaded technophile. With that in mind, this writer decided to assay the aforementioned maxim with a base model A6 2.0L TFSI (turbocharged fuel-stratified injection).