Luxury car sales in the Philippines expanded by 37 percent to 4,396 in 2023 from 3,208 units in 2022, with Toyota brand Lexus accounting for the biggest share of 42 percent.
Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) chief executive Alfred Ty noted the growing popularity of luxury cars in line with the economic growth.
“What this tells me is that the Filipinos are on their way to a higher quality of life and standard of living, in line with the government’s goal of making the Philippines an upper middle-income society,” Ty said during a media event Tuesday night at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taguig City.
TMP sold 1,846 units of Lexus variants from January to December 2023.
Lexus Manila chairman Vicente Socco earlier said sales went up following the introduction of the first full battery electric model, the RZ 450e, in May 2023.
Meanwhile, Ty said TMP was ramping up production of the new Tamaraw for commercialization by the third quarter.
“This is very much aligned with the program of government to expand manufacturing activity in the Philippines. It will create jobs, support local parts makers and provide MSME’s with a viable and sustainable mobility solution for their business,” he said.
Ty said the company already spent 25 percent of the P5.5-billion project cost, “and by the time we launch, the entire investment will be expended.”
He said it is a very exciting time for the automotive industry, as 2024 is seen as another groundbreaking year for the automotive industry.
“The recovery of the auto industry signals the return to motorization that was waylaid by the pandemic,” Ty said.
He said TMP paid a total P60 billion in terms of taxes and duties last year. “We are happy that we can once again help drive nation-building,” he said.
TMP sold 200,031 vehicles in 2023, up 14.9 percent from 174,206 units in 2022.