In the last 2-3 years, we’ve seen enormous activity from Chinese brands in the Philippine market. Brands such as Chery, Jetour, Omoda Jaecoo, GAC, Geely, MG, Denza, and of course BYD are just a few. Some have had some issues to work out, but all have enjoyed success, especially in the last few months as oil prices skyrocketed and the Chinese brands were poised to capitalize with their extensive electrified lineups.

While they make noise, there is one major Chinese brand that has been as quiet as a school library on a Sunday: that brand is Changan.

Changan does have electrified offerings to maximize the advantage given the times, but it seems they haven’t been able to, and the sales charts show it. In the first half of 2026, GAC (800 units), Chery (981 units), Omoda Jaecoo (1,979 units), Jetour (2,055 units), Geely (2,464 units), MG (4,232 units), and BYD (exact number unknown, but closing in on Mitsubishi) totally outpaced Changan's tally of just 528 units. Incidentally, that’s a marked decline from the first half of 2025, when they sold 593 units.

The brand was stagnating compared to their rivals, and it seems the automaker has had enough, as our “tweety bird” informed AutoIndustriya that Changan International Corporation sent a letter to Inchcape just over a week ago. Changan is terminating the distributorship agreement with Inchcape.

The brand does have a history of changing hands in our market. Their previous distributor was HARI in 2020, and they made a big push in the Philippine market with Fe Agudo. At the time, the brand may not have been ready with hybrid offerings, and the pricing was relatively high, even though their vehicles were just as enjoyable to drive as Geely’s models.

The contract only lasted 3 years, and so Changan appointed a new distributor that had just entered the Philippines: British multinational auto distribution and retail company Inchcape. There was a lot of promise, of course, as Inchcape (previously known as the Auto Nation Group) executives sought to build the Changan business in the country.

Based on sales, it was clear that the promise evaporated. Even though Changan was now backed by a major multinational dealership such as Inchcape, consumer confidence hadn’t been built up to the level of their rivals to reflect in the sales charts. Automotive is a tough business, and we saw firsthand how other brands moved up the order.

Another source informed us months ago that Inchcape was not ordering new units from Changan for the market. The reason is that their inventory was still populated by aging units that were not selling. If existing stocks aren’t sold, then there’s no space for new inventory, and the effects of halts in ordering will cascade months down the line. Perhaps hiring marketing executives with experience in the casual apparel retail industry rather than experience in the automotive industry wasn’t the right decision.

There is good news, especially for customers who own their vehicles: Changan isn’t going anywhere. Despite the distributor termination (which we’re told will likely be final, even though Inchcape can appeal), Changan will stay in the Philippines. They won’t be appointing a long-term partner/distributor, but are preparing the requirements to be the distributor themselves.

Yes, Changan will be like MG, Geely, and GAC, where a subsidiary of the OEM will be directly responsible as the distributor, with an interim importer as everything gets up to speed. Once they do, that will mean long-term stability, consistent parts supplies, and a wider model range at (hopefully) better prices.