BIZ BUZZ: Toyota optimistic about 2026

Toyota Motor Philippines started a brand new year with the surprise announcement that it will launch this year not just one or two but at least five new models, including the much-anticipated Land Cruiser FJ and updates to their top-selling Rav4 and Hilux.

For Toyota, which captured a dominant 46-percent share of total vehicle sales last year, the launch of multiple models is a testament to its optimism that, despite the sub-par 4.4-percent growth in the Philippine economy in 2025, there are multiple reasons to remain optimistic, albeit with some healthy caution.

According to Toyota Motor Philippines president Masando Hashimoto, the Philippine economy is “fundamentally still strong,” given benign inflation, stable bank rates and the continued inflow of remittances from Filipinos living and working abroad.

These factors, Hashimoto said, should stimulate personal consumption and appetite to purchase a new car.

He also stressed that, as a company that looks at the long term and not quarter by quarter, Toyota is “quite sure and confident” that the overall upward trend in the market will not change.

Sales may not be as “fast moving” as the automotive industry would like, but Hashimoto believes that the situation is just “temporary.”