KEEPING their feet on the ground has been hard for the country’s No. 1 car manufacturer. You can’t blame Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) as their antics prove otherwise. In fact, based on the most recent The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. report, the automotive company kicked off 2015 strong with 8,709 units in January, garnering a 46.7-percent share of the automotive market. The said auto manufacturer already experienced a 23-percent increase versus its sales last January 2014, outpacing the industry’s growth of 19 percent.
Moreover, TMP’s luxury brand, Lexus, recorded its highest sales in a single month with 67 units sold and now is the No. 1 luxury brand in the market. With a 91-percent growth versus the same period last year, a lot is to be expected from the brand this year. In addition to this, TMP recently just ramped up its after-sales service, introduced a new auto-insurance scheme and presented the all-new Toyota Alphard.
“We are optimistic that the car industry will continue to drive toward the future of more opportunities. Five years from now, our new midterm goal is to reach 200,000 units of new-car sales and 1.5 million units for our after-sales service,” TMP President Michinobu Sugata said.
For this year TMP is gearing for sales of 110,000 units after reaching a record 106,110 in 2014. Also last year, the company serviced 737,000 vehicles, or more than seven times the number it sold.
In line with this, TMP has just started offering Toyota Insure, an exclusive insurance service program for customers buying new vehicles or renewing their policies.
The Japanese carmaker has tapped Malayan Insurance Co. and Charter Ping-An Insurance, in offering personal-accident insurance among others. Furthermore, only three days after it was launched in Japan, the 2015 Alphard was unveiled by TMP at The Peninsula Manila hotel in January.
Sugata said the Alphard is aimed at “catering to each customer’s unique values and concerns, whether for business or leisure, making every trip feel like first-class.” The Alphard has an all-new enhanced NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) control measures that no doubt ensure silence inside this luxury van.
The floor height has been lowered by 50mm to allow easy ingress and egress for passengers, and the rear-door opening has been widened by 70mm for easier accessibility. Found only in limousines or aircraft, the Alphard has ambient lights with brightness that can be adjusted into 16 different colors.
It has a 147-liter capacity for the area underneath the luggage room floor. When the third-row seats are in use, six golf bags can still fit in the luggage area, while six pieces of hand luggage can fit in the recessed storage space.
Besides its ambiance and space, nothing can outdo its soft and spacious leather seats which are similar to La-Z-Boy chairs. These can be mechanically reclined to a point where passengers can almost lay flat on their backs.This luxury van, meanwhile, still sports the 6-cylinder in-line 24-valve DOHC with Dual VVT-I engine. Other than these, TMP is firing off its first leg of the 2015 Toyota Vios Cup and also launched a brand-new sedan (that’s another story). In a statement, Sugata stated, “It is encouraging that Toyota started the new year strongly.
Coming from a good performance in January, we are optimistic that demand will continue to be favorable because of positive economic outlook and confident consumer spending.” Hence, this writer believes the industry giant will continue to keep the ball rolling for years to come…as long as they keep their feet firmly on the ground.
Image credits: Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes