ELECTRIC vehicles (EVs) helped prop up automotive sales in March as surging fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East drove a shift from internal combustion engine-powered automobiles.
Over 39,000 vehicles left dealerships nationwide last month, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported on Monday, up from the more than 37,700 sold by the entire industry a month earlier.
Of the total, Campi and the TMA accounted for 36,104 units, 0.7 percent more than in February but down 10.45 percent compared to a year earlier.
Electric vehicles comprised 17.03 percent of the March total at 6,148 units, 101.3 percent more than the number sold a month earlier and 224.4 percent up year on year.
Campi President Jose Maria Atienza said the takeup of xEVs — the x refers to the various technologies used (battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid) — had become more pronounced after the government declared a national energy emergency.
“This continues the rising trend we have been observing the past few years,” he said.
“xEV adoption is mainly driven by users’ growing understanding and acceptance of electrified technologies. We expect this to grow further because of the country’s need for various energy efficient vehicles,” Atienza added.
“Rising oil prices will surely influence the Filipino motorists driving and vehicle purchase behavior. This will not only accelerate the preference for electrified vehicles but may also highlight the practicality of energy efficient vehicles like smaller and lower displacement cars.”
The automotive industry, Atienza continued, “will evolve based on the market’s requirement.”
Sales of the industry’s bread-and-butter commercial vehicle segment remained positive but were up just 1.3 percent month on month at 29,178 units in March. Reckoned from a year earlier, sales fell by 8.4 percent.
Passenger cars, meanwhile, fell by 1.72 percent to 6,926 units and were down 18.0 percent year on year.
Year to date, automotive sales were down 9.8 percent to 105,642 units with commercial vehicles dropping 7.8 percent to 85,941 and passenger cars plunging 17.2 percent to 20,151.
EV sales for January-March, in contrast, ballooned by 36.2 percent to 11,800 and accounted for 11.7 percent of total automotive sales.
Driving the surge were hybrid EVs — which use both an internal combustion engine and an battery-powered electric motor for propulsion — that saw 3,667 units sold in March (up 48.5 percent from February and 142.8 percent higher year on year).
Year to date, hybrid EV take-up rose 9.9 percent to 8,261 units.
Battery EVs, meanwhile, recorded a 485.9-percent month-on-month surge to 1,787 units in March and also posted a marked 400.6-percent gain from the same month last year.
Plug-in hybrids, which bridge the gap between hybrids and full EVs, saw sales rise 148.7 percent from February to 694 units and were up 2,378.6 percent compared to March 2025.
The first-quarter total for battery EVs was 2,289, up 122.9 percent, while that for plug-in hybrids was 1,250, 924.6 percent higher year on year.
Toyota Motor Phils. Corp. remained the number one automaker in terms of sales with 17,622 units sold in March, although this was down 1.8 percent from February and 6.8 percent lower compared to a year earlier.
Year to date sales were at 51,922 units, equivalent to 49.15 percent of the market but down 6.5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2025.
Mitsubishi Motors was again second, with March sales of 6,239 units (down 15.2 percent month on month and 20.4 percent lower year on year) and a first-quarter total of 20,600, 11.9 percent less than January-March 2025.
Suzuki Phils. Inc. took third on sales of 1,694 units, 5.2 percent up from February but 10.0 percent lower on an annual basis. The company’s three-month total was 4,920 units, down 9.0 percent from the same period last year.
