Sales of xEVs zoom despite drop in car demand

MANILA, Philippines — Electrified vehicle (xEV) sales continued to defy the overall downtrend in automotive sales, surging by 159 percent year-on-year in the January to April period, while total vehicle sales slipped by 12 percent, amid high fuel prices.

Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that their combined vehicle sales dropped to 132,867 units from January to April from 150,654 units in the same period last year as both the passenger car (PC) and commercial vehicle (CV) segments registered declines.

In particular, PC sales fell by 17 percent to 25,746 units as of end-April from the 30,830 units sold in the same period of 2025.

CV sales also slid by 11 percent to 107,121 units in the January to April period from 119,824 units in the same period a year ago.

In contrast, xEV sales accelerated to 17,655 units in the first four months of the year from 6,820 units in the same period last year.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) led the charge in xEVs, with sales rising by 115 percent to 12,368 units as of end-April from 5,744 units in the same period of 2025.

Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) jumped by 177 percent to 2,708 units from January to April from 978 units in the same four-month period last year.

Plug-in HEV (PHEV) sales soared by 2,532 percent to 2,579 units as of end-April from just 98 units in the same period a year ago.

Among CAMPI-TMA members, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the leading automotive firm with a 49.8 percent market share. This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (18.3 percent), Suzuki Philippines Inc. (4.7 percent), Nissan Philippines Inc. (four percent) and Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. (3.7 percent).

“While the market has not fully recovered from last year’s second semester slowdown, this was further affected by the oil crisis with customers carefully considering their car purchase,” CAMPI president Jose Maria Atienza said.

Elevated fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict have been influencing consumers’ vehicle purchases.

“The customers are very much aware of what’s practical during these times thus the increased demand for energy efficient vehicles like xEVs and lower displacement, fuel-efficient internal combustion engine vehicles,” Atienza said.

CAMPI is set to showcase these vehicles during the Philippine International Motor Show to be held from June 4 to 7, at World Trade Center Metro Manila.