TOKYO, Japan — The beloved 90s icon of the Philippine roads, Toyota Tamaraw, will be back with a cleaner and better engine and may even come as an electric vehicle, one of its executives said.

In an interview with Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMPC) president Okamoto Atsuhiro, the new version of the Tamaraw will still have a diesel engine but noted that it would be cleaner.

"We were committed to invest the P4.4 billion for light commercial vehicle — LCV, that's called in Toyota IMV 0 Project. It's the new generation Tamaraw project; we will enter this in the IMV 0 in the near future," he said on the sidelines of a send-off dinner Toyota hosted for members of the Philippine delegation.

"Basically FR, but the same as the current HiLux, basically the same structure. Diesel, basically diesel engine Cleaner engine, clean diesel," he added.

The new Tamaraw would be locally produced and manufactured in Santa Rosa, Laguna, and would generate a number of jobs that Okamoto said he "didn't count" yet.

He also promised that the new Tamaraw would be "different."

"It will be different. We will prepare a conversion for the upper body, like a utility van. But not personal, not like an Innova or a Tamaraw — the previous Tamaraw, not an MPV (multi-purpose vehicle)," Okamoto said.

However, he said the new version of the beloved road icon would not come this year. Okamoto explained this was because they were still studying the possibility of modifying its power delivery.

"Both (hybrid and electric) are an understudy, but BEV (battery electric vehicles) is one of the options," the Japanese official said.

"BEV is one of the methodologies for carbon neutrality. Our enemy is carbon, yes, not ICE (internal combustion engines), so we will prepare all the variants for carbon neutrality, not only the EV but also hybrid, probably hybrid, even hydrogen, we will prepare," he added.

"Multiple paths, solutions, we will prepare. Of course, BEV is one of the solutions, but if we only prepare BEV, many customers are worried about facing carbon because, in the Philippines, the electric is very expensive," he furthered.

According to Okamoto, he started thinking about reviving the Tamaraw in the Philippines in 2020.

"We want to contribute to the Philippine society, and industry, especially MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises). But the current HiLux, the price position is a little bit higher, so we need to introduce more affordable commercial vehicles for MSMEs," he said.

"We will integrate service with productivity. We will provide such mobility, total mobility solutions to the customers," he added.