Call us odd, but we look at automotive sales figures the way Operators look at the Matrix. To most eyes, they’re just random numbers and letters, but to us, they show a fascinating pattern. When we got the per-model breakdown of the biggest car brand in the Philippines, the numbers reflected a few expected entries, but also several surprising figures.
Toyota Motor Philippines is basically Marvel Studios at this point, in that they can do no wrong. The Japanese carmaker sold 161,385 units last year—162,011 if you include sales from Lexus Philippines.
Unsurprisingly, the Vios subcompact sedan was the bestseller, finding 33,181 new owners. But it became a close battle for second place, with the Wigo, Innova, Fortuner, and Hilux all moving upwards of 18,000 units each. But in the end, the pickup segment showed its strength (and TRAIN tax advantage) by giving the Hilux 20,846 unit sales—just 52 more than the Innova.
Here’s the breakdown of the Japanese carmaker’s sales in the Philippines for 2019, and our observations:
| Model | Units sold |
| Vios | 33,181 |
| Hilux | 20,846 |
| Innova | 20,794 |
| Fortuner | 19,865 |
| Hiace | 18,656 |
| Wigo | 18,183 |
| Rush | 15,172 |
| Avanza | 8,185 |
| Alphard | 1,642 |
| Corolla Altis | 1,261 |
| Land Cruiser | 1,162 |
| Camry | 688 |
| RAV4 | 552 |
| FJ Cruiser | 356 |
| LC Prado | 353 |
| Coaster | 200 |
| Yaris | 182 |
| Supra | 57 |
| 86 | 50 |
| Prius | 0 |
| Prius C | 0 |
| Total sales | 161,385 |
Our thoughts:
- Where did the 57 Supras come from? Stocks weren’t as limited as we thought. Toyota sold more Supras than 86 coupes.
- Toyota’s IMV platform continues to pull in massive sales, with the Fortuner, the Hilux, and the Innova combining for 61,505 units sold. If the IMV triumvirate were its own brand, it would be the third biggest carmaker in the Philippines.
- The FJ Cruiser is still on sale, finding 356 lucky new owners last year.
- Come on, show the Prius and the Prius C some love.
- The Land Cruiser and the Alphard may have sold ‘only’ 2,804 units, but they have combined sales of at least P11.73 billion.
- Filipinos really don’t like hatchbacks, judging by the paltry 182 Yaris units sold. If Toyota’s combined compact portfolio of the Vios and the Yaris were one pie comprising 33,363 cars, the Yaris represents only one-half of 1% of that number.
- The Rush proves that the market loves ground clearance, since it sold nearly double its MPV twin, the Avanza.
