The impact of Toyota’s Ativ hybrid to the motoring public
In 2024, Toyota sold 43,636 units of the Vios subcompact sedan. The previous year 2023, Toyota sold 37,971 units. It has been Toyota’s and the country’s single-best selling model for 14 out of the 17 years since the model’s existence in the country, and it’s set to become 15 years, showing dominance from 2008 to 2016 and again in 2018, and since 2020 until last year. In short, it pummels the competition to the ground, scorched earth policy, no stone unturned. It is the absolute King of passenger car sales.
All that is set to change. The challenger? None other than Toyota’s Ativ.
The Ativ is another subcompact or B-segment sedan like the Vios. But it trades the Vios’ smooth organic lines for a more mature, chiseled exterior with hints of a junior Camry. Power comes from the familiar 2NR but hybridized with the suffix VEX, producing a seemingly modest 91hp and 121 Newton-Meters of torque. Combined with the 80hp electric motor that peaks at practically zero RPM, total system output rises to 111hp while torque plateaus, providing a responsive and confident driving feel.
Crucially, it has the potential to deliver as much as 25km / liter with four adults and luggage on the highway (as tested by my colleagues), dropping to a more modest 15-17km/liter in the city. That represents a fuel consumption improvement of anywhere between 200-300 percent! Add that the Ativ is a hybrid, which means number coding exemption for the next few years makes it even more compelling. But the real deal-maker is the pricing: the hybrid is priced at P1,198,000, while the Vios G CVT is priced at P1,039,000. That’s a very budget/workable difference of P159,000. But with so much more technology, efficiency and versatility.
Toyota is forecasting 1,000 units a month for the Ativ, half of which (500 units) will be the hybrid variant. I feel 1,000 units a month purely for the hybrid variant is alteady sand-bagging, grossly mis-declared, understated and too modest. Probably 1500 / month is realistic, eith 2/3 going to Hybrids. That’s 18,000 a year, eating into almost half of the Vios’ market share. Unless, the market grows organically with two cars in this segment?
Regardless of the actual figure, Toyota has a grand-slam winner here. It is democratizing hybrid technology further, and bringing said technology to the mainstream, where average Filipinos can bank on the Toyota name, its legendary reputation, resale value and most of all, reliability.
Will it help boost the slowing market? Will it compel people on the fence to get mobile, moving their feet to Toyota dealers? Does Toyota have a runaway winner again? With bated but confident breath, I daresay YES!
