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Chinese cars are a repeat of Chinese phones

Fortunately, the author says, it’s the consumers who win

The influx of Chinese cars in the Philippine market is reminiscent of the entry of Chinese phones a decade ago. IMAGE BY CHATGPT

The year 2024 was widely recognized as the time when the Philippine automotive market turned a corner—it was the year when Chinese automakers gained the respect of Filipino consumers as they successfully positioned themselves as viable alternatives to Japanese and Korean brands. As with any new player, though, earning the respect of potential customers did not come overnight. In fact, it took almost 20 years.

Offerings from the early 2000s did not do well for the perception of Chinese brands. They were detrimental, to be completely honest, especially since their products did not have unique selling points unlike what we see today. Mention “EV” and nine times out of 10, you automatically think of a Chinese maker—the holdout being Tesla.

But if the influx of China-made options is the reality for automobiles today, the same was true for mobile phones a decade ago.

Chinese cars are exactly where Chinese phones were 10 years ago as far as consumer trust is concerned. IMAGE BY CHATGPT

The year 2015 was widely regarded as the year the Philippine mobile-phone market turned a corner—it was the year Chinese phone manufacturers gained the respect of Filipino consumers as they successfully positioned themselves as viable alternatives to Japanese and Korean brands.

No, the paragraph above was not accidentally copied and pasted. There really is an eerie similarity between the shift that is happening in the local automotive industry today and what happened to the smartphone industry 10 years ago.

I remember it well, because I was smack dab in the middle of that shift.

In the past, I worked as a marketing and PR manager for a feisty Philippine smartphone brand—you know, back when Philippine smartphone brands were a thing. The market was booming, thanks in no small part to social media, and local brands filled the segment that foreign brands were then unwilling to venture into.

Philippine brands dominated the mass market (i.e. P10,000 and below), so much so that it was not unusual to witness a product launch once every quarter. Yes, the demand and the competition were so brutal that brands needed to introduce at least one new phone per price bracket every three months. At the market’s peak, there were at least 10 prominent Philippine brands which offered several SKUs (stock-keeping units). Doing the math, that’s 100 new Android phone models every quarter. That might sound excessive, but hey, it was what the market consumed craved at the time.

What does it mean overall for the car industry? Looking back at what happened to mobile phones, the Chinese onslaught will continue to reshape the automotive market

The more established Japanese and Korean brands stood high and mighty above the pack: They had a firm grip of anything north of P10,000, and rightfully so, because they had the manufacturing muscle and the global scale to pull it off. Simply put, they had their turf, and we had ours. Stay in your lane, and we’re all fine and dandy.

Then along came the mavericks from the mainland that did not give a damn about anyone’s territory (wink, wink). Entry-level, midrange, premium—they had their sights set on all tiers. They were out to decimate and dominate. No ifs or buts about it.

As they landed in the country with guns blazing, we saw our malls plastered with their posters and brand colors—the most prominent of which were green for team “O” and blue for team “V”. There were even memes of promodizers engaging in fisticuffs because of their extremely aggressive on-ground marketing tactics.

In-your-face methods aside, “China phones” went through their own tribulation period. They had to outgrow the stigma of being low-quality, chunky, and clunky. It didn’t help that they used off-brand names such as Nokir, Souy Ericssou, BlockBerry, and Sumsang, and ran on questionable operating systems (this was before they started utilizing Android, of course). The only thing they really had going for them was their price, and boy, it really felt like it. Buttons falling off, batteries exploding, screens fizzing out—name any part and the defect rate was through the roof.

Remember the time when we would not be caught dead using a Chinese mobile phone? IMAGE BY CHATGPT

Evolution was inevitable, though, and evolve the China phones did at record pace. Pretty soon, a “Made in China” badge didn’t even matter as quality issues had been addressed all while maintaining the same bargain price points. Heck, we’ve even seen the more prominent, state-backed brands lead the charge in terms of innovation: 4G LTE connectivity, Full HD screens, surround speakers, high-capacity batteries—these were all features that Chinese brands made available to the masses.

Which brings us back to what we’re seeing today in the automotive industry. Again, China is innovating at breakneck speeds while everyone else is trying to play catch-up. The parallels between the tech industry 10 years ago and the car industry today are uncanny mainly because the players are the same: It’s China taking on the world. It’s China democratizing technology. It’s China challenging the status quo.

Is the actual thought of owning a Chinese car now real to you? IMAGE BY CHATGPT

So, what does it mean overall for the car industry? Again, looking back at what happened to mobile phones, the Chinese onslaught will continue to reshape the automotive market. The best manufacturers that are serious about their products will elevate into aspirational brands and will attract a more premium audience, while those that are meh or so-so with their business will become mere footnotes. There will be no space for those that wish to remain in the midrange.

Whether you like that scenario or not, it’s the essence of competition. Pivot or perish, as the saying goes, but take comfort in the fact that, ultimately, consumers win. We end up with more choices for less because the players are constantly trying to outdo themselves.

This certainly won’t be the last time we will see a shift of this nature. It’s only a question of where we’ll witness it next.



Elijah Mendoza

Elijah used to be a tech journalist and was an officemate of our EIC at Summit Media. He is now the marketing head of a leading telco company. He hopes to own a DMC DeLorean someday.



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