Mitsubishi invests US$116m in Philippines hybrid production

Mitsubishi Motors has announced it will begin producing hybrids at a plant in the Philippines starting in mid-2028, committing PHP 7bn (US$116m) to establish a dedicated production line in Santa Rosa. The investment will raise the plant’s capacity by around 20% to 60,000 vehicles annually, and opens the possibility of hybrid exports.

The Philippine government has framed the development as a potential step toward the country becoming a regional manufacturing hub for next-generation vehicles in much the same vein as Thailand. Mitsubishi holds just under 20% of the Philippine market and has maintained that position while losing ground to Chinese competitors elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The Philippines will be the second country where Mitsubishi produces hybrids, after Thailand, and the project is intended to reinforce its position in a market where it remains comparatively insulated from China competitors. The choice to produce hybrids is also in-keeping with local consumer habits; indeed, hybrids accounted for 3.6% of new vehicle sales in the country in 2024. This is modest in absolute terms but comfortably ahead of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which remained below 1%. 

It is highly likely that, for the foreseeable future, internal combustion engine vehicles will continue to dominate in the Philippines and comparable markets. The charging infrastructure that would underpin meaningful BEV adoption at scale has yet to be deployed at meaningful scale, making hybrids a necessary concession for near-term electrification policy ambitions.

The announcement is but another development in Mitsubishi’s broader electrification strategy that prioritises hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology over BEVs. While Ford, GM, and several European manufacturers have publicly scaled back BEV targets and reintroduced hybrid programmes, Mitsubishi’s more modest commitment to the segment has been consistent. Its position appeared overly cautious before the rollback of BEV subsidy programmes in multiple Western countries; now the approach arguably comes across as pragmatic. 

Given its smaller size than most global automakers, Mitsubishi has also structured its electrification path to limit capital exposure. Through its membership of the Honda-Nissan strategic partnership—established in 2024 and separate from the failed merger talks that followed in 2025—it expects to share BEV platforms and software development costs rather than fund proprietary battery-electric architecture independently. 

A separate arrangement with Foxconn’s Foxtron division will see a BEV model built in Taiwan for launch in Australia and New Zealand in late 2026, extending its electric offering through contract manufacturing rather than factory retooling.