Toyota Motor Philippines Corp.’s (TMPC) unveiled the different body styles for the iconic vehicle ‘Tamaraw’, which will retail for less than P800,000 for the base model once it launches in the local market in January. (Photos by Alden M. Monzon)

The local unit of automotive giant Toyota Motor plans to build around 20,000 units of its next-generation Tamaraw utility vehicle in its first year of production in the country.

The automaker is setting the price below P800,000 for the base model of the Tamaraw, which is scheduled to be available in the market in January.

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“We are expecting the monthly [sales to be from] 1,500 to 1,800 [units],” Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) president Masando Hashimoto told reporters on the sidelines of the ceremonial roll off for the Tamaraw at their manufacturing facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, on Thursday.

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Hashimoto said that the locally made Tamaraw vehicles will be using the conventional internal combustion engine, but said that they are not ruling out the possibility of manufacturing an electric vehicle variant if there is local demand.

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“Electrification is one of the key themes for the entire Toyota [group]” Hashimoto said.

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He said that around 25 percent of the parts used in making the Tamaraw vehicles in the Philippines will be sourced locally.

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The vehicle parts that Toyota are still importing are the engine, the glass for the windows and batteries, according to Hashimoto.

According to TMPC, they sold around 140,000 Tamaraw units from 1991 to 2004, a period where it was at the height of its popularity and use in the country.

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Toyota has invested P1.1 billion for a new 1.5-hectare conversion facility, bringing their total investment to revive their Tamaraw production to P5.5 billion.

Toyota Asia Region deputy chief executive officer Hao Quoc Tien said that the new conversion facility is a capability breakthrough, being the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.

TMPC said the newly built facility can convert the vehicle into three Tamaraw body styles —dropside, utility van and aluminum van.

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The company will reveal more specific details on the pricing of each variant on Dec. 6jili178, slated as the grand launch of the new Tamaraw.

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