BYD CO. LTD.’S brand DENZA is entering the Philippine market this week, betting that accelerating electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Southeast Asia will extend to one among the region’s smaller but growing automotive markets.
“There may be faster and growing adoption of recent energy vehicles within the Philippines,” Adam Hu, country head of BYD and DENZA Philippines, told reporters on Monday. “The identical scenario can also be happening in other Southeast Asian countries.”
The Philippines stays a comparatively small EV market compared with regional peers similar to Thailand and Indonesia, but automakers are stepping up launches amid government incentives and rising consumer interest in fuel-efficient vehicles.
BYD’s Philippine sales climbed to greater than 26,000 units in 2025 from fewer than 5,000 vehicles in 2024, he said, reflecting stronger demand for electric and hybrid models.
DENZA, positioned as BYD’s premium marque, will formally launch within the Philippines on Friday, expanding the Chinese carmaker’s footprint into the country’s higher-end electric vehicle segment.
For its debut, DENZA will introduce the Denza D9, a luxury multipurpose vehicle. Two sport utility vehicle models are also lined up for release, possibly by March, as the corporate broadens its product offering.
“DENZA has a large product lineup,” Mr. Hu said. “It covers SUVs (sport utility vehicles), MPVs (multipurpose vehicles), sedans and even sports cars.”
He added that more models can be introduced progressively to capture a wider range of shoppers.
The brand will initially open 4 dealerships in Alabang, Makati, Cebu and Greenhills in San Juan City. Mr. Hu said the rollout is designed to support brand-building and repair standards relatively than chase aggressive sales targets in its first yr.
“This yr is sort of vital for us to ascertain the brand image, to have the service quality built-in,” he said. “It’s not a yr we should always concentrate on sales numbers. We should always concentrate on the service.”
Still, infrastructure stays a key hurdle for broader EV adoption within the Philippines. Mr. Hu cited limited charging facilities as the most important risk to growth, particularly given the country’s geography of greater than 7,000 islands, complicating the event of a nationwide charging network.
“With recent energy vehicles vastly growing, the limited charging infrastructure will cause anxiety for our customers,” he said.
Private conglomerates including Ayala Corp. and SM Investments Corp. are helping expand charging networks, Mr. Hu noted.
BYD can also be open to partnering with local firms and deploying its in-house charging technologies to speed up infrastructure development, he added. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel