Philippine production at Japanese automotive giant Toyota may slow in 2026 as weak demand weighs on vehicle sales, putting the automaker on track to fall short of its banner production year in 2025.
According to Toyota Motor Philippines senior vice president Sherwin Chua-Lim, output from the company’s Santa Rosa plant in Laguna may settle at close to 60,000 units in 2026, lower than the 63,804 units it produced in 2025.
Chua-Lim said weak domestic demand was among the factors behind the projected production slowdown, as the broader Philippine automotive market grapples with macroeconomic pressures, including elevated fuel prices.
Already, Toyota saw local vehicle production drop 10 percent in the first eight months of the year to 38,221 units from 42,469 units in the same period last year.
Toyota locally assembles the Vios, Tamaraw and Innova at its Laguna plant.
The Vios remained its most-produced model at 18,321 units, accounting for 48 percent of output. The Tamaraw followed this at 12,468 units, or 33 percent, and the Innova at 7,432 units, or 19 percent.
Toyota said production initially showed signs of recovery in July, when output reached 5,540 units, but slipped again to 4,540 units in August. Sales likewise dipped to 14,594 units in August from 17,797 units in July.
‘Demand remains soft due to macroeconomic factors,’ the company said.
Even with the slowdown, Chua-Lim noted that Toyota maintains a strong position in the Philippine automotive market, particularly in the sedan segment with the locally assembled Vios.
In the first seven months of 2026, Toyota remained the Philippines’ top-selling automotive brand by a wide margin, having sold 118,706 units, down 8.2 percent from the same period last year.
That was still enough to give Toyota nearly half of the market and a sizable lead over the No. 2 car brand, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., which sold 42,592 units during the period.
Looking ahead, Toyota is positioning the Tamaraw as an increasingly important part of its local manufacturing mix. The model has already overtaken the Innova in production volume this year.
Toyota is also widening the Tamaraw’s applications through its local conversion program. TMP now offers 13 conversions for businesses and local governments, working with seven body builders and conversion partners.
The company earlier said it plans to enroll the Tamaraw under the revived Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement program, whose framework the government is still finalizing.