Philippine conglomerates are forming partnerships with Chinese and Vietnamese electric vehicle companies, accelerating the spread of EVs in a market dominated by Japanese automakers late to the electrification game.
Chinese EV brands took center stage at the Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit held in Manila on October 23 by the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP).
BYD unveiled the new eMax 9 DM-i, a luxury plug-in hybrid multipurpose vehicle. The booth also featured a full EV on display. Zeekr, part of Geely, debuted a coupe during the exhibition.
Major Philippine conglomerates Ayala Corp. and SM Group are laying some of the groundwork for the arrival of new EV brands in the country.
BYD touted discounts for buyers who financed their purchase with an auto loan from the Bank of the Philippine Islands, a lender under Ayala. At the Kia booth, an Ayala affiliate promoted a charging service.
Ayala’s automotive arm, ACMobility, became an authorized distributor for BYD in 2023. There are about 40 dealerships nationwide, with plans to have nearly 80 by the end of the year.
SM Group subsidiary BDO Unibank entered into a strategic partnership with Vietnam’s Vingroup in September. BDO, the largest commercial bank in the Philippines, will provide financial support for Vingroup’s EV taxi service, Green GSM, which began Philippine operations in June.
Emerging conglomerate Alliance Global Group opened a Tesla flagship dealership in Metro Manila last year. Rapid chargers are being installed in parking lots at Alliance Global-owned commercial properties.
The Philippines has lagged behind other big Association of Southeast Asian Nations members in adopting EVs due to a lack of charging infrastructure and high electricity costs. Now that influential conglomerates have started to take action, EVs have a better chance of gaining a foothold.
“We’re happy because they are the ones who are completing the infrastructure,” said EVAP president Edmund Araga when asked about conglomerates’ EV-related investments. “They address not only the issues on e-vehicles, on chargers, but even on renewables.”
EV sales are on the rise. New EV registrations from January to July this year totaled 29,715, according to EVAP, accounting for 5% of all vehicles and exceeding 2024’s full-year total of 24,286 EVs. The level is projected to reach 35,000 EVs this year.
The rise of automakers like BYD and Vingroup is a threat to Japanese brands, which account for a large proportion of the Philippines’ new car market.
Japanese automakers were largely absent from the EV summit, though Honda Motor displayed electric two-wheelers.
Japanese carmakers place a priority on the Philippine International Motor Show hosted by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines. It is the country’s largest automotive show held every two years.
New car sales totaled 343,410 vehicles for January-September, with Toyota Motor ranking first with 164,797 units and Mitsubishi Motors in second with 65,421 vehicles, according to CAMPI and other sources. The top two automakers have a combined market share of nearly 70%, and six of the top ten are Japanese companies.
While this data does not include BYD and other fast-growing EV brands, the total share of Japanese automakers is still high overall. Japanese automakers are hoping to capture demand with new fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles and popular sport utility vehicles.
Some local conglomerates are reassessing their ties to established automakers in order to put do more with EVs. In September, Ayala said it would stop selling vehicles from Germany’s Volkswagen. The group will also terminate a dealer agreement with Honda—a partner since 1990—at the end of this year.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.