DEMAND for electrified vehicles (EVs) has been growing in the Philippines, making it more attractive for car brands to launch new models, Mercedes-Benz Philippines said.
“I think acceptability has been growing for new energy vehicles, and that includes full electric, hybrids, and mild hybrids,” Maricar Parco, general manager at Mercedes-Benz Philippines, told BusinessWorld on Friday.
“We have seen that from the previous year, this has doubled. If I am not mistaken, it is from about 3.5%, and this year for the first quarter it is about 7% already. So most brands are also providing opportunities for Filipinos to try the new energy vehicles,” she added.
She said Mercedes-Benz vehicles with some form of electric propulsion consist of 10% of the sales mix.
“It’s significant, and we want to grow that further with our plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) to about 15% of our sales mix,” she added.
On Friday, Mercedes-Benz launched two plug-in hybrid models — the GLC 350e PHEV and the E 350e PHEV, the brand’s initial PHEV models in the Philippine market, which will sell for P4.89 million and P5.49 million, respectively.
“We introduced the full electric models two years ago, which is the EQ line. Now, we are building on that portfolio with PHEVs … And we are starting with two models, a sedan and an SUV. These are just additional products in our portfolio for new energy vehicles,” Ms. Parco said.
“This is really part of our business strategy towards electrification. Mercedes-Benz set a target in 2018 to go fully electric by 2039. So that will also depend on the market readiness. But for our part, we feel that PHEVs would be a good alternative for Filipino motorists who are not ready yet to go full electric,” she added.
Last year, Mercedes-Benz sold over 700 vehicles, while in the first four months of this year, the brand accounted for 15% of the luxury segment.
“We are looking into the introduction of a couple more plug-in models for the second half of the year. So people can expect more to come,” she added.
She said that the company is looking to add one more dealership in Northern Luzon.
“We are still in talks with potential partners. But we are looking at having that up hopefully by the third quarter,” she added.
Currently, Mercedes-Benz has four dealerships, located in Greenhills, Bonifacio Global City, Alabang, and Cebu. — Justine Irish D. Tabile