Toyota plans to bring back Tamaraw FX to the Philippines

Japanese carmaker Toyota has committed to invest some P4.4 billion for the production of light commercial vehicles (LCV) in the Philippines, the company’s top executive said on Saturday, Feb. 11.

In an interview with journalists covering President Marcos’ official visit here, Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation president Okamoto Atsuhiro said they signed a letter of intent with the Philippine government last Friday, Feb. 10, to invest for LCV or IMV-0 or Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicle-zero project.

The official also announced the return of the Tamaraw FX model, with a better and cleaner engine, in the country.

“It’s the new generation Tamaraw project, we will enter this in the IMV-0 in the near future. Of course, local production, manufacturing…in Santa Rosa (Laguna),” he said.

He added the new version of the Tamaraw FX will still have a diesel engine but a cleaner one.

The Toyota executive said they are studying the possibility of modifying the power delivery of the new Tamaraw FX instead of solely relying on internal combustion engines to address concerns about clean emissions.

“The current Hilux, the price position is a little bit higher, so we need to introduce more affordable commercial vehicles for MSMEs,” he said.

Asked if he expects Filipinos to patronize the new Tamaraw, Okamoto said, “the IMV-0, maybe we call that Tamaraw, is a kind of a game-changer especially for the MSMEs.”

“We will integrate service with productivity, we will provide such mobility, total mobility solutions to the customers,” he said.

The popularity of Asian utility vehicles was sparked by the Toyota Tamaraw FX in the early years of Toyota in the Philippines. The Tamaraw model was first introduced in the Philippines in the 90s, becoming one of the most iconic vehicles in the country.

Editor's note: This story originally appeared on One News.