Toyota Motor Philippines is having quite the busy year doing motorsports and e-motorsports events like the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup (the former Vios Cup) and the recently concluded national round of the GT Cup.

As for new model releases, they quietly introduced the Land Cruiser Prado to the market but it quickly made the headlines recently as they gave a unit to Carlos Yulo, the newest double gold medalist Olympian of the country.

Now, we somewhat have an idea of what they could introduce next. We have spotted that TMP has received two approvals for a passenger car with a 1.6-liter gasoline engine with an exact displacement of 1618cc. The two approvals only differ in their reference mass, but the gross vehicle weight are the same.

Upon checking the numbers, the engine displacement points out to the G16E-GTS – the 1.6-liter, three-cylinder turbo that powers high performance vehicles under the Gazoo Racing division such as the GR Yaris, the GR Corolla, and the Lexus LBX Morizo RR. So which one could it be?

The GR Yaris is already present in SE Asia markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, while the GR Corolla and LBX Morizo RR are yet to be introduced as a regular model in the region. The GR Corolla may have been sold in limited units in Thailand, as well as some gray market units that made its way to the country, but since then it has not officially been sold by Toyota to other SE Asian countries. The Lexus LBX Morizo RR, on the other hand, has just been launched in Japan and it might take a bit more time for the model to be introduced in other countries. That leaves us with an educated guess that the updated GR Yaris could be the mystery model we’re looking at.

Toyota’s AWD homologation special hatchback received a model refresh that sees some slight changes to the exterior, an interior overhaul, a bump in power output from the aforementioned 1.6-liter three-banger, and for the first time, an 8-speed automatic transmission. The latter could also explain the reason for the two approvals – automakers usually do separate approvals in a model that is offered with different transmissions.

The current GR Yaris in the country is only offered with a 6-speed manual transmission. But if we're right about this, then the updated model could cater to a larger scope of buyers by offering a more convenient way to enjoy the GR Yaris with the 8-speed auto.

As to when they could possibly launch the model is still anyone’s guess. But given that Toyota usually treats the Philippine International Motor Show as a major launchpad for their new products, then there’s a chance that the updated GR Yaris could be launched there.