Can EVs save the auto industry as car sales slow? | Willy Tee Ten | Business 360

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Demand for electric vehicles is accelerating but not enough to speed up car sales. We get the front row seat uh view of how the industry is doing with Willie T10 who in addition to being president of the AutoHub group of companies is also the head of the electric vehicles association of the Philippines.

[00:00:21]Joining us today, Mr. Willie T10. Thank you for joining us.

[00:00:24]>> Thank you.

[00:00:26]um April car sales dropped 19% uh compared um year and year. No, >> how does this feel on the ground?

[00:00:36]>> Yes, actually uh because uh of the oil price hike uh suddenly uh a lot of a lot of car buyers are shifting now to EVs >> and the EV sellers are not ready for the the sudden demand. So, it takes time because when the war broke out in in in uh the last I think February 28th, that's when when the US bombed Iran, >> the prices of gasoline only went up in the middle of March.

[00:01:07]>> Yeah.

[00:01:08]>> So, the demand came in after the middle of March.

[00:01:11]>> Yeah.

[00:01:11]>> So, you cannot buy cars immediately because the the the the supply is very small. Yeah.

[00:01:18]>> So, they had to order. So the whole month of April was a disaster because there was no cars. Uh everybody has a long line.

[00:01:26]>> No EV inventory.

[00:01:28]>> Yes, no EV inventory.

[00:01:29]>> Yeah. Is this slowdown uh just uh you know a couple of months uh problem or are dealers already seeing signs of a softer market for none heading into the rest of the year? for the total car industry uh from January to April uh it's been down by about 5% only. So that's good. I mean it's not good because it's down but at least it's only 5%.

[00:01:57]>> Yeah.

[00:01:57]>> But the the shift has been transferring from from IC or the internal combustion engine to the different types of EVs in the market. What kind of buyer is pulling back the most market?

[00:02:13]>> Uh those who are firsttime buyers have to pull back because of the economy. Uh >> second is of course uh exchange rate.

[00:02:22]>> This is people buying their first car.

[00:02:24]>> Correct. Correct. And and those who can afford only one car. So they have they have instead of changing their cars, they'll probably extend the life of their their current car. Mhm.

[00:02:36]>> Right. So, so, so that's one. Uh, some of them wants to buy a new car, but the EVs are not available yet. So, April was a really big uh uh how should I say uh in terms of sales, it went down because some are waiting for the EVs.

[00:02:54]>> Yeah. Now for May, uh although today is already almost the end of May, uh we believe that the sales volume will still be the same, maybe about hovering about 35,000 >> yearon year.

[00:03:09]>> Uh no, 35,000 is the average this year.

[00:03:13]>> Yeah. Okay.

[00:03:13]>> And it's still down versus last year.

[00:03:16]>> Okay.

[00:03:16]>> But I expect June to be better because most of the EVs that were ordered in March or April will be coming in June.

[00:03:23]>> Okay. Yeah. So, I'm hoping that June will be a much better month compared to April. And and I'm I'm I'm not very optimistic about May. It's probably better than April because some of the units have arrived already.

[00:03:40]>> Yeah.

[00:03:40]>> But June will probably be the month where where sales will go back up.

[00:03:44]>> EVs um really were, you know, an acquired taste. It wasn't growing that fast. And then big we have the Iran conflict. Uh they jumped 159%.

[00:03:57]But uh it still wasn't enough obviously to lift the whole industry because uh there wasn't enough inventory.

[00:04:05]>> Is this uh growth 159%. Is this sustainable or is this just a spike?

[00:04:12]>> I believe it's going to get even better >> for the EVs. No, again we need to talk about what are the different types of EVs.

[00:04:21]>> Uh there's the hybrid EVs, that's why we call it the HEVs, the plug-in hybrid EVs, which we call the PHE EVs, and of course the full EVs where we call it the BEVs or the battery electric vehicles.

[00:04:35]>> As far as 2025 was concerned, >> BEVs are super small volume.

[00:04:40]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:04:42]>> Last year were the PHEVs and the HEVs.

[00:04:45]Yeah, >> because of the Iran war now suddenly those nonbe believers are starting to consider the beevs because because of the oil oil price.

[00:04:59]>> Yeah. Also when you think about it proven people have started to uh you know accumulate experience with beevs and it looks like they're having a positive experience.

[00:05:12]>> Correct. Actually uh the Philippines is actually one of the slowest in terms of >> adoption >> adoption of BEVs.

[00:05:20]>> Imagine last year we're less than 1% >> on BEVs. No, >> it's only maybe thanks to Donald Trump that you know the suddenly they have to consider the BEVs now and once they've tried it, they're going to love it.

[00:05:33]>> Yeah.

[00:05:33]>> Right. The only consideration has always been been uh the uh the charging infrastructure which I'm sure you're going to ask me later.

[00:05:42]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But uh what do you call this? Um you know the also the the price h it's beevs are more expensive.

[00:05:52]>> Correct. And then but the because of the incentives of the government that the price difference has become smaller and smaller.

[00:05:58]>> Yeah. Yeah. There's a bit of Yes. And the new >> tax duty break.

[00:06:02]>> The new BEVs coming in are are are pretty very are very very good price already. There are BEVs now below 1 million.

[00:06:09]>> Oh, there are.

[00:06:10]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:06:11]So many of them are coming in especially in the next few months.

[00:06:16]>> So, so expect a lot of a lot of shift and and once they try the BEVs, they're probably going to love it. I'm I'm I'm I'm almost sure they're going to love it.

[00:06:26]>> Yeah. Well, you know, hybrids uh in the meantime are really uh carrying the EV uh segment. Both uh PHEVs and and >> uh you know, Toyota uh has said categorically, look, we're going to concentrate on hybrids.

[00:06:45]That's the way forward.

[00:06:48]Um, is the Philippines realistically a hybrid first market before it becomes a full uh BEV market?

[00:06:57]>> Uh, that's a very very good question.

[00:06:59]No, hybrid cuz there are two types again.

[00:07:02]>> Yeah, >> there's the hybrid and the plug-in hybrid. No.

[00:07:05]>> Yeah.

[00:07:05]>> So, so right now it's probably equal, >> right?

[00:07:10]>> It's about equal.

[00:07:11]>> Equal. The the problem with PHEVs is because a lot of condominiums do not allow yet the charging. You know, you can charge at the condos. No, either they don't have enough uh transformer or or electricity supply or or the association just do not believe uh on on on the safety of the charging station. No.

[00:07:34]>> Yeah. But I mean, you know, have we had incidents of these vehicles blowing up?

[00:07:41]I don't think so.

[00:07:42]>> I I I I honestly do not know anything that has happened in the Philippines.

[00:07:46]>> Yeah.

[00:07:46]>> Other countries, for whatever reason, and it's so few.

[00:07:50]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:07:51]>> And and and for me, there's no danger in that as long as you follow the protocol on on on setting up a charging station at home.

[00:08:02]>> Mhm. Okay. Now, um the uh from a dealer's uh well, okay, range anxiety.

[00:08:11]Let's talk about uh range anxiety. I mean, how uh how justified is it in this day and age? Uh well, I guess we're talking really about uh BEVs because uh you know um PHEVs and that's not range anxiety.

[00:08:29]>> Correct.

[00:08:30]>> Yeah. Uh so how much of a concern among consumers is range uh anxiety?

[00:08:37]>> There's there's still a lot of concerns with range anxiety, but they're always concerned. The favorite question is can can my BEV reach Baguio? That's the favorite destination. My always as a dealer I always ask how often do you go to Baguio? But >> the the the new technologies of the BEV the range are getting longer and longer.

[00:08:58]No. And at the same time, charging stations are are are growing quickly also. But if you're the type of person on Nerbioso, you'll always go with the PHEV first.

[00:09:10]>> Yeah.

[00:09:11]>> But if you cannot have charging stations at home, you have no choice but to go with HEV.

[00:09:16]>> Yeah.

[00:09:16]>> Some are I I'm I'm very concerned some some customers do buy the PHEV.

[00:09:23]>> Yeah. which is kind of kind of surprising for me. If you don't charge it at home, then why buy a PHEV? Buy an HEV.

[00:09:32]>> Yeah.

[00:09:32]>> But if you can charge it at home, by all means, the PHEV would be better.

[00:09:37]>> Yeah.

[00:09:37]>> So, so misnomer, some people are buying the PHEV.

[00:09:44]That's really weird. No, >> that's kind of kind of a no.

[00:09:49]Yeah. Well, I guess they're used to spending on gas, so Correct. they figure out okay it's okay >> so so again uh as autohub group n man we're we're very excited already to bring a different type of PHEV which is the series PHEV or what we call the range extended EVs >> so that's the one that we're strongly promoting now uh uh the brand is called uh it's a range extended yes it's also part of the Changan group >> and and and uh they're they're they have the extended uh range extended EVs which is a BEV without the range anxiety.

[00:10:29]>> Okay. Yeah.

[00:10:30]>> Yes.

[00:10:30]>> Well, I you know I I hope people see these uh these insights.

[00:10:36]>> Um from the dealers perspective are customers now walking into showrooms actively asking about uh PHEVs and BEVs?

[00:10:46]Actually, they there a lot of people are walking in now to to showrooms asking, "I'd like to buy an EV, but what type of EV I'd like to, you know, would be best be best for for for the customer." Yeah, they're always asking that. So, the first thing we ask is always the >> is your home or or does your house uh uh is it capable of of can we put a charging uh a wall charger in your house or not?

[00:11:14]>> Yeah. because that's the first thing that's most important.

[00:11:18]Because if you live in a condo, >> what are we talking about? Like a 5 amp setup or a 20 amp or a 50 amp setup.

[00:11:26]>> We normally measure the charger as a a uh kilowatt hour 7 kilowatt hour uh uh wall charger.

[00:11:34]>> Okay.

[00:11:35]>> And and and with a 7 kilowatt hour.

[00:11:37]>> So that's like five aircons at the same time, right?

[00:11:39]>> Uh depends on how big the air con is.

[00:11:41]Yeah. But but a a 7 kilowatt charger is more than enough >> and and uh and if you use the 7 kilowatt there's no danger of of masunog or whatever it it's very very it's a slow charger basically.

[00:11:59]>> Yes. Exactly. Yes.

[00:12:00]>> Yeah. The home chargers are al always much >> lower. That's what we need the the public to know that if you have a home charger, unless you use fake adapters or, you know, fake or or you don't use a a uh an authorized uh installer.

[00:12:19]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:12:20]>> Yeah. Then then that's that's a problem.

[00:12:23]Yeah.

[00:12:23]>> So, what's harder to sell right now, a traditional gasoline car in this weak market or uh a BEV?

[00:12:32]the the the shift has gone to EVs, different types of EVs, the gasoline cars, the the inquiries have gone down.

[00:12:39]Yeah. Yeah. Uh there are still some people who who doesn't want to have any change in their lifestyle, so they'll still insist on the the IC engines. No.

[00:12:50]>> So, so the the drop has gone down tremendously, but they're still believers. No, some people do not like to to do not believe in EVs.

[00:13:01]they will still continue with the IC.

[00:13:03]>> Yeah.

[00:13:04]>> But there there is a a a big group already that is considering.

[00:13:09]>> Okay. So the shift is happening.

[00:13:11]>> It is happening with more Chinese uh EV brands entering the market. How is that changing competition for the traditional guys? Say your normal Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, uh >> correct >> Ford. Uh >> they're all they're all considering EVs also. Mhm.

[00:13:30]>> So, so like like uh Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Ford, they're all going to have uh hybrid vehicles or plug-in hybrids very very soon.

[00:13:44]>> Actually, Toyota has plenty of uh hybrid vehicles available in practically every model all the way up to Lexus.

[00:13:51]>> I think it will because I think everybody's shifting to that already. Even Nissan will have four four or five new electric vehicle models coming out. Ford will have their own as well.

[00:14:05]>> And then of course Mitsubishi will have their uh hybrid vehicles also.

[00:14:09]>> Yeah. Well, I mean it's now more viable since they've been able to advance battery technology. That that was the bottleneck. Correct. Correct. range anxiety density uh batteries compared to the energy density of gasoline or diesel.

[00:14:31]>> Um what's the next major policy push that the EVP would like uh to see from government? Are you asking government to change uh rules, more incentives, more charging support or clearer rules?

[00:14:47]>> Sorry. Um yeah, as as part of EVAP, we're always uh lobbying with government. Yeah.

[00:14:54]>> To to to extend the the Evida law.

[00:14:58]>> Uh because the Evida law started in 2022 and it will end in 2028.

[00:15:04]>> Oh, it will end.

[00:15:05]>> Yes. And and the incentives will end in 2028. So we're we're negotiating with government to extend it for another five as many as as little as 5 years to maybe to 10 years because because even if it started in 2022 the real shift came only last year.

[00:15:24]>> Yeah.

[00:15:24]>> And actually the BEVs are only this year.

[00:15:27]>> Yeah. So, so imagine 22 23 24 25 incentives for the law. So you you have 26 27 28 3 years n >> so we we really need to extend that. No.

[00:15:43]Second is of course the charging stations need more incentives as well. I think we need to keep on asking government to help us especially when it comes to to installation of of charging stations because there has been challenges first uh with with uh getting so much permits.

[00:16:02]>> Yeah.

[00:16:02]>> So maybe we can we can have a one-stop shop for for charging stations >> or or you know maybe convince the fuel retailers uh to to have charging stations in their fuel leno.

[00:16:14]>> Correct. That's part of the Ivida law and and and and uh but I think the challenge is also you know getting permits from the local government you know the LGUs uh getting permits from from different government agencies >> that's ease of doing business and this is the Philippines >> and I think they need to come up with that uh uh because that's always been the challenges I've heard from EVAP that you know the charging stations have difficulty in in fasttracking the charging uh stations, the the putting up of charging stations.

[00:16:48]>> Yeah. Yeah. We were talking to a rooftop solar provider, which is a different industry, but the other day, but he said, "Yeah, in some cities it takes 2 years to get a permit to install solar panels on your building. That's insane."

[00:17:02]>> Yeah. Honestly, I don't I don't know much about the the solar side of the the the solar panels, but that would help the EVs also. If you have a charger at home, a solar panel will be fantastic.

[00:17:14]>> And and uh >> yeah, if it takes 2 years, I hope it's not it's not that long anymore. But still, even if you just say it's 2 months, we still need to shorten it if possible.

[00:17:26]>> Mhm.

[00:17:26]>> Because this is new energy.

[00:17:28]>> Yeah.

[00:17:28]>> Uh so so honestly, I I believe and and I hope that you know uh government can help out when it comes to to shortening the red tape. I don't know how we call it, right? So if if we can have a process that could shorten everything that would be fantastic.

[00:17:44]>> Are banks and financing companies uh reacting to the current uh market?

[00:17:51]>> Yes, they are. Uh initially they were not as as uh how should I say aggressive.

[00:17:56]>> Mhm. Uh I I believe right now knowing that all brands are going into electric vehicles whether it's pure electric or hybrids or plug-in hybrids that is that is the the the future the new future. Yeah.

[00:18:13]>> And and and and we're hoping and we're as EVAP we're also talking to the banks and saying hey Mr. Bank you know you need to to be more aggressive now with with uh electric vehicles.

[00:18:24]>> Yeah. for someone planning to buy a car this year. Um, is it better to buy now?

[00:18:31]Uh, whether a regular car or an EV or or let's wait until you know uh this thing settles itself out especially the fuel costs and you know >> that's a very very good question. Uh, do we buy now if it's time for you to change your car? Yes. If it's not the time for you to change your car, you have to bear with the fuel cost.

[00:18:58]Yeah. Because BEVs can save you about 70% >> Yeah.

[00:19:03]>> of your fuel consumption and that's without solar energy.

[00:19:06]>> P.

[00:19:07]>> So, so even before the war, it was already 65%.

[00:19:12]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:13]>> Now it was it's it's about 70%, I believe in the future it will be 75% savings. So, for a pure EV, >> Yeah.

[00:19:23]>> And then, and then for an REV, the one I mentioned a while ago, >> Yeah.

[00:19:27]>> it's probably if it's 70 now, the REV is probably 65%.

[00:19:32]>> Yeah.

[00:19:32]>> The plug-in hybrids maybe 60%. That's still a lot.

[00:19:35]>> Yeah.

[00:19:36]>> And then the the normal hybrids maybe 3540%.

[00:19:40]Those are all uh money that you can save and use it for something else.

[00:19:45]>> Yeah.

[00:19:46]>> Yeah.

[00:19:46]>> Yeah. And lessens the country's dependence on imported fuel. Correct.

[00:19:50]And and maybe the air is going to be cleaner. You have less fog and smog, you know, and the solar energy can absorb more heat from the sun >> until you're able to get electric jeeps and electric tricycles.

[00:20:05]>> That's another thing that we'd hope the government can consider. You don't only save in fuel, but you help in the environment. Yeah.

[00:20:13]>> Right. And and for logistics companies, it would be fantastic that if you have these electric vehicles, the the the temptation for pilferage is even less now.

[00:20:24]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:24]>> Because drivers have the temptation right now to >> do something the fuel and and they cannot do that with electric vehicles.

[00:20:33]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:34]>> Okay. Well, thank you so much for your time. This is a very illuminating discussion. Good luck with the industry this year.

[00:20:40]>> Thank you so much.

[00:20:41]>> Looking at a lot of challenges. Cheers.