Toyota begins exporting LHD Innova Hybrids from Indonesia

After holding its global debut last year, Toyota has officially announced that they have started exporting the first units of the all-new Innova Hybrid from the company's PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN).

During a ceremony at TMMIN, the company commemorated the first batch of LHD exports of the Innova Kijang Zenix which will be exported to 19 countries in Asia, Latin America, as well as the Middle East.

For this year, Toyota Indonesia plans to export more than 8,000 units of the Kijang Innova Zenix which will be composed of 30% HEVs and 70% ICE models. The company also hopes that exports of the Innova Zenix will continue to increase year after year with a target of 17,000 units in 2025 for hybrid and ICE variants.

“The first export of the Kijang Innova Zenix would not have been possible without the full support of the Government of Indonesia, strong partnerships from our entire supply chain including small and medium industries (IKM), and community support. Hopefully, we can contribute even more so that we can grow together and increase global competitiveness to meet the development of the Indonesian and global automotive industry,” said Warih Andang Tjahono, president director at TMMIN.

With Toyota Indonesia already exporting LHD models of the all-new Innova to international markets, does this mean the Philippines will have to import the MPV from our ASEAN neighbor? For now, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has yet to officially announce whether the next-generation Innova will be made at the company's Santa Rosa factory in Laguna.

But given that Toyota announced earlier this month that they will invest PHP 4.4 billion in the Philippines for the next-gen Tamaraw, perhaps the new Innova may have to be imported in the future. Until TMP officially makes an announcement with regards to the all-new Innova, all we can do for now is wait and see.

With insiders stating that the all-new Toyota Innova could arrive sometime in Q3 of 2023, we might not have to wait too long for the next-generation MPV to make its way here. The only question now is, will it still be locally produced by then or sourced from Indonesia to make for the Tamaraw's return?