COMING shortly is another Toyota wonder worth our while. Curiously named Raize, it is a five-seater SUV that will be unleashed in a market already crowded by similarly situated variants. Still, it deserves just not a second look but a keen gaze from only the most discerning car buffs this corner of the globe.
Stunningly but not really surprisingly, it has drawn advance orders this early.
For starters, the Raize, touted as useful both for daily use and leisure trips on weekends, comes in four variants: 1.0 Turbo CVT, 1.2 G CVT, 1.2 E CVT, and 1.2 E MT. It retails from P746,000 up to P1,036,000. For more details, inquire at .
Speaking of Toyota, the world’s No. 1 automaker has plans of producing 11 million vehicles worldwide in the 2022 fiscal year for a whopping increase of around 20 percent from 2021 records.
In a news dispatch, Nikkei Asia said the plan suggests that Toyota anticipates a strong recovery in a global auto market that has been plagued by a shortage of key components amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Excerpts of Nikkei’s report:
“For the current fiscal year, Toyota’s output is estimated at about 9 million vehicles.
“The upbeat projection assumes that the pandemic will be brought under control, and that there will be ample supplies of semiconductors.
“If the plan comes through, Toyota’s output will top its previous production record set in fiscal 2016.
“Of the 11 million vehicles it aims to make, 7.5 million will be produced overseas and 3.5 million will be made in Japan—an increase of 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively, from the fiscal 2021 plan.
“Toyota’s target assumes that more than 900,000 vehicles will be produced every month on average.
“Earlier this month, Toyota informed its suppliers of its plan to produce 1 million vehicles in April, which would be a record for a single month.
“It also underlines Toyota’s commitment to produce at least 3 million vehicles in Japan, a level the automaker believes is necessary to maintain its domestic manufacturing base.
“Meanwhile, output for February will be reduced by 20 percent, apparently due to the shortage of semiconductors.
“Hitting the 2022 target will not be an easy task for suppliers. One midsize supplier says it is still dealing with worker shortages brought on by Covid-19 and entry restrictions on foreign nationals.
“The supplier relies on overseas workers for part of its production.
“Toyota produced 8.18 million vehicles in fiscal 2020 and 8.74 million in fiscal 2019.
“Global auto sales are estimated to have reached 81.05 million units last year, rebounding from the previous year’s 14 percent decline to 77.76 million units, according to British research specialist LMC Automotive. Sales for 2022 are forecast at 85.95 million vehicles.”
Recovery fast shaping up?
PEE STOP
The government’s planned auction of smuggled luxury cars recently went bust. Not even one unit was sold. Where are the new rich, the usual suspects? Playing it safe—luxury items being magnets of disaster? The true rich did not bite, too. They know better? Like, spare parts becoming scarce nowadays due to supply chain snafus? The times, they are a-changin.’