No more 1.5L: Toyota PH cuts down variants of current-gen Vios

UPDATE as of 07/8/2024: Toyota Motor PH has since reinstated the 1.5-liter variants of the Vios

Toyota Motor Philippines continues to clear out the inventory of its best-selling model, the Vios.

Last year, TMP has already stopped offering the 1.3 Base and 1.3 E variants of the Vios, while the top-of-the-line 1.5-liter GR-S variant was dropped in the lineup back in January. Fast forward to six months later, and TMP has further downsized the Vios variant offerings to four.

This time, Toyota no longer offers the Vios with the 1.5-liter 2NR-FE engine found on the G MT and CVT variants. Those two were the top-spec variants after the GR-S was discontinued, and were the model variants used as the base car to compete in Toyota’s one-make race, the Vios Cup. The two no longer appear on the TMP website, but there are remaining units still available in some dealerships.

What’s left in the Vios lineup are the J MT, XE CVT, XLE MT, and XLE CVT that’s powered by the smaller 1.3-liter 1NR-FE. These particular variants usually cater to first-time car owners and those who enter fleet businesses such as company cars and ride-hailing services.

Of course, these particular moves can fuel speculations that the new model based on the DNGA platform is coming. But on the flip side, TMP may even do the same thing they did to the Philippine-made Innova and the imported Zenix - the current NSP150 model could be sold alongside the DNGA-based AC100 Vios.

We reported a few months ago that TMP has received approval for passenger vehicles with 1.5 and 1.3-liter engines that match the displacements of the 1NR and 2NR-FE of the Vios. But what we missed out on was the approval for the 1.3-liter 1NR was indicated with the chassis code NSP150, while the bigger 1.5-liter 2NR did not have such. There’s still very little information to support this case, but the scenario can actually give TMP some sort of flexibility as they sort out their production facility in Santa Rosa.

As we all know, TMP makes the current-gen Vios in the Santa Rosa plant, along with the Innova. But at the same time, the facility is being readied to produce the new Tamaraw. Since TMP will be dividing the production capacity of the plant to produce three models instead of two, that means the Innova and Vios unit output will have to be adjusted for the Tamaraw. For the Vios, that also means product planners will have to prioritize which variants will make up those downsized numbers.

The 1.3-liter variants of the current-gen Vios make up the bulk of the sales, and it would cost TMP a lot if they stop selling the model while the plant undergoes retooling for another model. At the same time, TMP also can’t turn a blind eye to those who want the 1.5-liter variant. To leverage the situation at hand, bringing in the DNGA Vios as an imported model can allow TMP to satisfy the demand for the 1.5-liter version of their best-selling sedan.

That being said, only Toyota Motor Philippines knows the exact answer to all these speculations but they won’t tell us that yet. With a few more months and a few big events happening soon in the auto industry, anything can still happen.