The pivot to Chinese-made vehicles is something being quietly evaluated by many of the non-Chinese OEMs in the Philippines. A lot of them won’t admit it because it signals a major shift for their brand that may or may not be received well by their loyal customers, but the reality is that there are a lot of major advantages in sourcing models from their joint venture partners in the Chinese auto manufacturing sector.

Ford Philippines is one of the first non-Chinese OEMs to get from PRC (the first one was Chevrolet with the Sail, if memory serves) with the release of the JMC-Ford Territory in 2020, followed by a newer and larger Territory soon after. Today, the Territory is one of the strongest sellers in the Ford Philippines lineup, and they’ve launched a hybrid model already. We’re still waiting to see if they will actually bring a PHEV variant, which is what many customers are asking for.

But even though Ford Philippines has enjoyed success with the Territory, the company has taken its time to follow it up with more vehicles from their factories in China. They already opened the door with a JMC-Ford unit, and sometimes we wonder why they stopped at that.

Now we know: Ford is evaluating more vehicles from China, and they’re looking at another Ford joint venture too. 

An insider very familiar with their upcoming plans for model launches has told us that Ford is looking at introducing at least two more vehicles from China, and that these will include PHEV, HEV, and a seven-seater. The kicker is that Changan-Ford (the other joint venture) is now in the mix.

The Changan connection is important because it opens up the possibilities to include vehicle names that are already familiar to customers. We had initially looked at the Ford Explorer, which they do have in China (and with a new look), but we can scrub that option. The Explorer doesn’t have a PHEV or HEV option there, and we don’t think that will be it unless, for some reason, Ford wants another ICE-only model amidst an energy crisis. 

The likely candidates are going to be the Ford Equator PHEV 7-seater (of which the 5-seater version is known as the Equator Sport AKA Territory) as well as the Ford Edge L, which does have a hybrid variant. 

There is a possible third model in the mix, as it does make sense for Ford: that would be the Bronco New Energy. This is different from the Bronco that Ford brought in from the US with the thirsty engine, as Ford China does offer a somewhat different Bronco that comes as a BEV and as a range extender EV (REEV/EREV).

Of course, at this stage it’s still all hush-hush, but the next few months could really be exciting times for Ford in the Philippines.