2024 Toyota Tamaraw: More details on the new generation AUV

If there’s one vehicle that everyone (and we literally mean everyone) is looking forward to being launched in the Philippine market, it’s the all-new Toyota Tamaraw.

Sure, many are looking forward to it serving as a family vehicle in a people carrier fashion like the Tamaraw FX of old, or maybe even as a Revo type (if they produce an AUV variant), but the appeal of the Tamaraw doesn’t stop there. Being primarily a cab and chassis model means it will appeal to a lot of micro, small, medium, and even large enterprises all around the country.

We know they’re busy setting up the line for the Tamaraw (known as the Hilux Champ in Thailand) so they can start series production later this year at the Toyota Motor Philippines factory in Santa Rosa, Laguna. By our understanding, the vehicle will be launched sometime in Q4, so that means series production will begin just a few months before that.

The two big questions on everyone’s mind are what will the pricing be like for the all-new Tamaraw, and how many can TMP produce to meet demand?

The most accurate indicator of the pricing according to our contact, is to look at the prime competitor of the Tamaraw: the Mitsubishi L300. Currently, the L300 C/C (cab and chassis) has a retail price of PHP 825,000. We don’t think the Tamaraw will match it in price because it’s a newer vehicle, so the best estimate for a starting price is around PHP 880,000 to 920,000. And yes, it will be a cab and chassis model too.

The target production volume for TMP is around 2,000 units per month, which means they aim to do around 24,000 per year for the Tamaraw. Mind you, that’s over 2 shifts at the TMP Santa Rosa factory.

Right now, it’s all about the waiting game. It takes a lot of time to retool, reorganize, paperwork, permits, small batch test runs, and iron out the problems and kinks they discover along the way. As we understand it, Toyota is also busy negotiating the other details with the government. 

Toyota is also undoubtedly working on organizing the supplier base for the Tamaraw which will definitely involve a lot of local businesses. Every new model produced means an entire parts ecosystem. That means jobs and a positive contribution to the economy.