Vox Populi: Should Toyota PH build the Tamaraw with 4x4?

Last week, your feed probably got saturated by news on the all-new (or next-generation) Toyota Tamaraw. That’s no surprise as Toyota Motor Philippines conducted the roll-off ceremony and the public launch of the new model, including the pricing which starts at PHP 937,000 for the dropside long wheelbase diesel.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the Tamaraw breathes some much-needed life into automobile manufacturing and assembly in the Philippines. If you noticed, quite a few assembly lines have shut down here, as Ford no longer builds cars in the country, and neither do Nissan and Honda. Of the major automobile brands, only Toyota and Mitsubishi continue to manufacture cars in the country.

If you noticed though, there were a few things missing during the launch announcement. The first is the promise of a Tamaraw that was supposed to be at the PHP 800,000 mark; that variant will be the short-wheelbase gasoline model. The reason for that delay: Toyota will be initially focusing on building stocks of the turbodiesel long wheelbase model. We can expect the gasoline SWB model sometime next year; probably around March.

The second is perhaps what a lot of us are interested in: Why is there no 4x4 variant of the Tamaraw?

The answer is simple: it was never intended to have 4x4.

Toyota designed and engineered the Tamaraw/Hilux Champ to be a basic light commercial vehicle for paved or poorly paved roads, but not for off-road. The assumption here is that it will be a vehicle to bring produce to market, deliver goods to end users, carry materials to construction sites, and shuttle people around. They didn’t factor in that customers -be it enthusiasts or even owners who live in mountainous or truly rural areas- may want or need 4x4.

We asked Toyota executives about it, and we were told that they had brought up the issue to the engineering and design team that built the Tamaraw (AKA: Hilux Champ) and asked if it was possible. The answer: they might look into it.

They really can do it because the Tamaraw shares parts, platforms, and other components with the IMV range. And IMV, as you know, already includes Fortuner and Hilux; both those models have 4x4. It’s just a matter of engineering and testing a 4x4 system that makes use of those components (probably with a longer center drive shaft, among others) to build one.

The problem is this: as you also may know, Toyota tends to lean on the conservative side. So let’s help them make up their mind and take your chance to be heard: get in the comments section and post whether Toyota should seriously build a 4x4 Tamaraw/Hilux Champ variant.

Toyota made a pretty big deal about the Tamaraw being a product of something called “goyokiki”. While it may sound a bit amusing (especially to Filipinos), what it means is they will offer what the customer needs based on the customer’s voice. That’s why they have many different conversion bodies (and many more coming up) for the Tamaraw platform.

So let’s put that to the test. Let us know in the comments on our social media what you think of a 4x4 Tamaraw variant.