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Louella Desiderio - The Philippine Star
June 2, 2026 | 12:00am
This was raised by TMC Asia Region CEO Masahiko Maeda during a business roundtable attended by President Marcos and top Japanese business executives in Tokyo last week.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) is pushing for Philippine government support for local vehicle manufacturing of all technologies to help strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and safeguard jobs in the sector.
This was raised by TMC Asia Region CEO Masahiko Maeda during a business roundtable attended by President Marcos and top Japanese business executives in Tokyo last week.
“We encourage the government to promote CKD (completely knocked down)-based local manufacturing across all technologies... This will help MSMEs, deepen localization, strengthen local suppliers including conversions, attract investment and sustain employment,” Maeda said.
Amid the evolving global supply chain, TMC underscored the importance of continued government support to sustain the local automotive manufacturing industry, including the production of internal combustion engine vehicles or gas-powered cars, as these are deeply linked to the supply chain and consumers.
It said that support for all vehicle technologies would also provide mobility solutions that meet the different needs of consumers.
At present, TMC’s local subsidiary, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP), manufactures the Vios, Innova and Tamaraw models at its plant in Santa Rosa in Laguna.
TMP was among the participants of the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program, which provided incentives to firms in exchange for investments in local vehicle manufacturing.
Apart from support for manufacturing of all vehicle technologies, TMC also pushed for the adoption of biofuels such as E20, B5 and beyond in the Philippines.
The push for biofuel adoption is in line with the Asia Zero Emission Community platform for cooperation for net-zero emissions in Asia.
Beyond promoting a clean mobility ecosystem in the Philippines, TMC also sees biofuel adoption as a way to support the agricultural sector by engaging local farmers into the energy supply chain.
“Toyota remains committed to being a reliable, long-term partner to the Philippines supporting industrial development and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) cooperation,” Maeda said.
Toyota has been operating in the Philippines for almost 38 years.
Apart from the manufacture of vehicles, Toyota, through Toyota Aisin Philippines Inc. (TAP), is also engaged in the production and export of automotive transmission.
Through TAP, Toyota Group’s cumulative exports of manual transmissions have reached over $3.8 billion to global markets including Asia, Africa and Latin America.
