Story & photos by Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes
LAUGH, drink and be merry. By all means, celebrate—for no other local carmaker has ever done it the way Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has in its almost three decades of existence in the country.
During its midyear thanksgiving affair for the media held at the Salvatore Cuomo, Uptown Parade in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, the Japanese car giant was pleasantly in credence and gratitude among friends.
“Toyota has long been working under the framework of passion, the philosophy of customer first and our commitment of delivering great products and services. Feat after feat,” TMP President Satoru Suzuki conveyed.
“We at TMP acknowledge that all these have been possible because of the trust and support that you—our friends from the media—have displayed over the past 28 years,” he added.
In fact, he also mentioned that for this year, according to its year-to-basis, it has have already sold 85,000 units through its strong network of 52 dealerships nationwide, making it a 26-percent growth versus the same period in 2015.
This is in line with the local automotive industry’s goal of reaching 350,000 target vehicle sales.
In addition, he said: “On the other hand, in the area of our production, it is equally important to note that last month our Santa Rosa plant has already assembled almost 30,000 units.”
The figure, as per Suzuki, is 11 percent higher than the same period of last year, highlighting the great public demand of their Toyota Vios and Innova.
‘Engine-ious’
Speaking of its best-selling passenger car and overall top model in the country, the Toyota Vios, together with the Yaris hatchback, just had a slight makeover.
With the Vios already logging in 17,022 unit sales in just its first half of 2016, this best-seller, simultaneously with the latter, had themselves an all-new engine.
The drivetrain package now gets dual VVT-i, meaning both intake and exhaust valves this time sport variable valve timing (VVT). The previous one only used VVT on the intake side.
With this, Toyota promises to deliver more power and torque, as well as better fuel mileage.
The new system provides both, Vios and Yaris more able 1.3 and 1.5 engine variants. The 1.3-liter engine is now good for 98 hp and 123 N-m of torque, while the latter wrings in 106 hp and 140 N-m of torque.
For automatic transmission variants, meanwhile, the new engines are paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), in place of the previous four-speed gearbox.
The CVT is paced to bring in smoother running and improved fuel mileage, while, at the same time, employing a seven-speed sequential shift mode whenever the driver wants to control the ratios himself.
“In the spirit of ever-better cars, we have displayed our new and ‘engenius’ Vios and Yaris. Both of which now carry a more powerful and fuel-efficient NR series engine equipped with Dual VVT-i and CVT. This improvement gives better mileage that aims to achieve fuel economy, high-engine output and decreased fuel emissions similar to other Toyota vehicles, such as the Altis, Camry and the Rav4,” Suzuki shared.
Aside from the drivetrains, exterior-wise, the Vios now comes with two additional colors: Alumina Jade Metallic (green) and Blackish Red Mica. It also gets a new chrome trim for the fog lamps in the G variant.
While the Yaris gets to enjoy a fresher look from the inside with its seat fabric and and dark silver trim for the audio head unit.
Toyota has high hopes for the Vios, since it will be Toyota’s entry to the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program, which aims to double the volume of locally assembled vehicles.
CARS provides financial incentives for models that can reach 200,000 units production over a six-year period.
The Vios 1.5 TRD White Pearl is priced at P991,000; 1.5 TRD at P976,000; 1.5 G AT White Pearl at P917,000; 1.5 G AT at P902,000; 1.5 G MT White Pearl at P867,000; 1.5 G MT at P852,000; 1.3 E AT at P800,000; 1.3 E MT at P750,000; 1.3 J MT at P637,000; and 1.3 Base at P599,000.
The Yaris 1.5 G AT is priced at P883,000; 1.3 E AT at P793,000; and 1.3 E MT at P743,000.
Image credits: Ronald Rey M. De Los Reyes
1 comment
Quite fascinating…