Toyota Philippines promos keep sales up

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of the world’s largest car manufacturer, Toyota, is banking on sales promotions and car price discounts to boost sales for the rest of the year in the midst of a slowing economy and rising consumer prices. But officials said the company was unlikely to continue the price slash, which means lower profit margins, next year. Speaking at the company’s 20th year anniversary celebration in Makati on Friday, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. corporate affairs head Rommel R. Gutierrez said promotions have been helping to sustain the company’s sales numbers since 2007. Last year, the local automotive industry sold 100,000 vehicles for the first time since the Asian currency crisis in the late 1990s, on the back of increased sales of Asian utility vehicles (AUV). Toyota also managed to maintain its top rank in the Philippines in terms of sales, with a 37.15% market share last year. And while the share was lower than the 38.43% it enjoyed in 2006, the car maker was still the industry leader. But an economic slowdown which has pushed inflation to a 17-year high of 12.2% in July has forced the company to cut prices to keep people buying. Consumer prices are expected to rise further until October. Mr. Gutierrez said one of Toyota’s promotions is "Buy 1, Drive 2," which gives a person who buys a car a chance to win another. "But to tell you the truth, we can only keep this up until this year," Mr. Gutierrez said in Filipino. He added that the company was trying to boost sales by marketing their products as environment-friendly. Still, Toyota is confident of achieving double-digit growth this year. The Philippine automotive industry grew by more than 14% in the five months to May from a year earlier, and is expected to sell more than 125,000 cars this year, or 6.8% higher than the year ago, despite high oil prices. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld