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| By Jason Ang Photos By Ulysses Ang |
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What is the best-selling vehicle in the Philippines?
Corolla? Civic? Close, but no cigar. In
fact, not even close…by far, it’s the Toyota Revo. Also known as the Tamaraw FX, it’s the market leader in the
most popular category of passenger vehicle, the Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV),
a hybrid of passenger car, light truck and delivery van.
Brainchild of Toyota Motors in the late 1970s, the Tamaraw was
developed as a multi-purpose entry-level vehicle that would be
structurally sturdy, mechanically reliable, and most of all, be
absolutely affordable. This
was accomplished by doing virtually all of the vehicle fabrication
locally, and by using parts already developed by Toyota, such as the drive train
and suspension. The body
panels, interior and accessories were designed and manufactured by
Toyota Philippines and its local suppliers. The Tamaraw took its bow along with the rest of Toyota
during the worst periods of economic contraction in the mid-1980s.
Toyota developed this current generation in Indonesia and
reintroduced it to the Philippines with its return in the late 1980s.
The brand name enjoyed familiarity and some measure of loyalty
among Filipinos, and the Tamaraw soon emerged as the bestseller in the
AUV class. In their FX Mega Taxi guise, these new “kings of the road” have also come to dominate traffic in Metro Manila. (Hey, power corrupts cab drivers, too.) For many commuters, they’re an reasonable alternative to taking the awful jeepneys. As mass transport, their efficiency is questionable, since they can only carry 10 people, compared to a jeepney’s 20, or a bus’ 50. ($%*?#@& bus drivers!) Given a choice which to ride, though, with the Tamaraw’s real interior and above all, airconditioning, it’s no contest. Hot on the Tamaraw’s heels came Mitsubishi with its
Adventure, and Isuzu with the Highlander.
These used styling cues and indeed some parts from its high-image
offroaders Pajero and Trooper to give the vehicles a better image and
attract the private user who might be turned off by the Tamaraw’s
taxicab image. Aiming to retain its leadership among private users as
well, Toyota introduced a facelifted and upgraded version of the Tamaraw
called the Revo. The normal
Tamaraw continues on as taxi and utility vehicle, but the Revo is geared
more for private transport. The
Revo also boasted of more modern engines that incorporated—finally—EFI. That’s more like it, Toyota. |
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