Aggressive is an understatement when you look at the rapid rollout of vehicles from BYD Cars Philippines. And going into the -BER months, the brand is still showing no signs of slowing down.

In fact, they’ve just announced another upcoming launch on their social media. This time, BYD Cars Philippines is targeting the luxury MPV segment with the 2026 eMAX 9 DM-i.

Known as the BYD Xia in the Chinese market, the eMAX 9 has already been spotted on Philippine roads as early as August this year, showing its prominent front grille complemented by massive faux bumper intakes and sleek LED headlights. The luxury MPV has likewise been listed and certified as a plug-in hybrid vehicle by the Department of Energy.

Based on the DOE list, the eMAX 9 is likely to share its fifth-generation Super DM-I powertrain with the recently launched Tang DM-I SUV. The setup consists of a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine making 150 PS and 250 Nm of torque, serving as a generator that charges the eMAX 9’s Blade battery.

The single motor setup then gives it 272 PS and 315 Nm of torque with two battery options – one is a 20.4 kWh unit in the Advanced variant, then the other has 36.6 kWh in the Premium, which is expected to give a longer all-electric range. Since the latter has a bigger battery pack than the Tang DM-I, we could expect it to cover more than 110 km on pure battery power alone.

The BYD eMAX 9 DM-I is likely to feature 7 seats as standard with captain seats in the middle row, but a 4-seater version, like what Lexus is offering in the LM, is not totally out of the equation. What we know right now is that we can expect the MPV to have plenty of luxurious amenities and large screens inside.

Considering the aggressive pricing strategy of BYD, they are very likely to undercut the SRP of the Alphard, and perhaps even the GAC M8. But by how much? That is something that only BYD Cars Philippines knows so far. They have opened reservations for the luxury MPV, so we won’t be surprised if the launch happens sometime this month or in November.