Why did Toyota PH defer launch of SWB gasoline Tamaraw to 2025?

Toyota PH building up capacity of next-generation Tamaraw at Santa Rosa plant

When Toyota Motor Philippines officially launched the all-new Tamaraw last week, some were surprised by the pricing. That's because during its launch last week, only the long wheelbase turbo-diesel variants were launched, and the lineup starts at PHP 937,000 for the 2.4L Dropside M/T.

Curious as to why there were no gas variants mentioned (which will start below PHP 800,000), we asked TMP executives the reason behind it.

During a press conference, TMP executive vice president Jing Atienza mentioned to us that the reason there were no gas variants yet of the all-new Tamaraw is because they are building up the capacity of the Santa Rosa plant. The executive shared that the company decided to focus on building the long wheelbase variants first because they saw stronger demand for diesel.

The next question we asked was when can we expect the gas-powered versions of the next-generation Tamaraw to be available? TMP's first vice president for Vehicle Sales Operations Danny Cruz said that they are looking to introduce the short-wheelbase gasoline versions of the Tamaraw by March 2025.

This means those who are looking to get a brand-new Tamaraw but prefer it with the 2.0L 1TR-FE four-cylinder gas engine will have to wait until March of next year to get one. Compared to the 2.4L 2GD-FTV turbo-diesel engine which makes 150 PS with 400 Nm of torque (343 Nm for the manual variant), the 2.0L gasoline engine makes a respectable 139 PS and 183 Nm of torque.

Unlike the 2GD-FTV turbo-diesel which can be paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox in the GL Dropside, the 1TR-FE gasoline engine is only available with a 5-speed manual transmission.

No exact prices for the gasoline-powered Tamaraw variants have been revealed yet. However, we expect them to be priced lower than the turbo-diesel versions. After all, TMP did say that the dropside version will retail below PHP 800,000.