TOYOTA Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) is prioritizing maintenance services while it awaits the recovery of new vehicle demand after the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto said in a television interview on Wednesday that the company could restart around 50% of production operations.
But he also said that it would take time before the new car service market to fully recover, noting that the car maker is learning lessons from industry recovery in China.
“I assume it takes some time, but during the ECQ period, demand for maintenance is coming soon. Firstly, we should eliminate customer anxiety for the automotive ride,” he said.
Mr. Okamoto said that the company was considering customer visits for maintenance and repair services for those who cannot come to the service outlets.
“If customer cannot come to the outlet…we can visit. We can prepare service for the customer’s home…service for maintenance and repairing, we are now considering. Starting from the maintenance service or repairing service, that is our current direction,” he said.
Mr. Okamoto said the company was still in discussions on when it would be restarting operations at its Laguna plant, but that it was ready to do so.
Laguna will be under a modified ECQ until the end of May, where manufacturing for select industries including motor vehicles are allowed to operate with up to 50% of their workforce on-site. — Jenina P. Ibañez
