PIMS 2026 Lineup Signals A Market In Repositioning Mode

Seventeen brands, 150 vehicles, and three notable absences point to a Philippine auto industry recalibrating around electrification and Chinese entrants.

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The Bottom Line

• PIMS 2026 will run June 4 to 7 at the World Trade Center in Pasay, with 17 confirmed brands and more than 150 vehicles on display, around half of them electrified
• Tesla, VinFast, and Jetour are officially in. Their inclusion alongside legacy Japanese marques marks the first PIMS where Chinese and EV-native brands occupy the floor on equal footing
• Ford, Mazda, and Hyundai are absent from the official CAMPI participant list, a notable gap given their market history in the country
• CAMPI member sales fell 9.8 percent year on year in Q1 2026 to 105,642 units, while xEV sales jumped 36.2 percent in the same period, making this the first PIMS framed explicitly around the fuel crisis
• Sitting two months after MIAS 2026 at the same venue, PIMS becomes a second-stage positioning battle rather than a standalone showcase

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A Show Reframed By Market Pressure

The 10th Philippine International Motor Show was confirmed by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines on May 6, ending weeks of speculation about whether the biennial event would push through. PIMS 2026 will run from June 4 to 7 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila, the same venue that hosted MIAS in April. The proximity is not incidental. For the first time, the Philippine auto industry has two major shows running within two months at the same location, which forces every participating brand to think about positioning across both events rather than treating each as a standalone moment.

The framing this year is unusually direct. CAMPI president Jose Maria Atienza has tied the show explicitly to the country’s fuel crisis, presenting the lineup as a response to mobility cost pressure rather than a celebration of new product. That is a meaningful shift in tone for an event that has historically leaned aspirational. Industry sales context backs the framing. CAMPI member brands sold 105,642 units in Q1 2026, down 9.8 percent year on year. Within that decline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery EV sales rose 36.2 percent. The market is not just softening. It is shifting categories.

What The Confirmed Brand List Tells Us

The 17 confirmed participants are BAIC, Chery, Foton, Geely, Honda, Isuzu, Jetour, Kia, MG, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Omoda and Jaecoo, Subaru, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota, and VinFast. Read carefully, the list is the most structurally diverse PIMS roster to date. Legacy Japanese and Korean players still anchor the floor, but Chinese brands now occupy roughly a third of the lineup, and two pure-play EV manufacturers have crossed the threshold from MIAS-only or independent showings into CAMPI’s flagship event.

Tesla’s inclusion is the most quietly significant. The brand operates in the Philippines through a relatively recent local presence, and a CAMPI-organized show is a different setting from independent pop-ups or dealer events. VinFast is similarly notable. The Vietnamese brand has been pushing aggressively into the market with its VF series and recently teased the VF MPV 7 with a quoted price of PHP 1.239 million, signaling that PIMS will likely be used as a price-anchored launch venue rather than a brand awareness exercise.

The Three Brands Not On The List

Ford, Mazda, and Hyundai are absent from the official CAMPI participant roster. These are not minor names. Ford has long competed in the pickup and crossover segments through the Ranger and Territory. Mazda holds a defined premium-adjacent position. Hyundai has been rebuilding distribution in the country and recently launched product through other channels. The absence does not necessarily mean strategic retreat. CAMPI membership and PIMS participation are tied to specific commercial structures, and brands not aligned with that structure may simply be choosing other venues.

But the optics matter. Sitting out the country’s largest CAMPI-organized show, especially in a year where the agenda is electrification and the floor includes new entrants like Tesla and VinFast, sends a signal regardless of intent. For brands trying to defend share against Chinese entrants on price and Japanese incumbents on reliability, missing a four-day window of consolidated buyer attention is a positioning cost.

Electrification Is The Center Of Gravity

CAMPI has stated that around 75 of the more than 150 vehicles on display will be electrified, covering hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles. That is roughly 50 percent of the total floor, and it represents the clearest structural commitment yet from the industry’s main trade body that electrified powertrains are no longer a side category. The composition is also worth noting. Hybrids will likely dominate volume given current Philippine charging infrastructure, but the presence of full battery EVs from Tesla, VinFast, BYD-adjacent Chinese brands through Geely and others means the show will function as a comparative reference point for buyers evaluating electrified options against each other rather than against pure ICE alternatives.

Nissan has already confirmed four models for its display, including the X-Trail e-Power, Kicks e-Power, Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid pickup, and the N7 electric sedan that may launch locally as the Nissan Primera. That kind of disclosure ahead of show day is itself a competitive move, designed to anchor expectations before rival brands reveal their own lineups.

PIMS After MIAS

What makes PIMS 2026 strategically distinct is its position in the calendar. MIAS in April set an early benchmark for the year, with BYD and ACMobility running a heavily marketed presence and several Chinese brands using the floor to launch new models. PIMS now arrives two months later at the same venue, which means brands cannot rely on novelty alone. The buyers walking the WTC floor in June will, in many cases, be the same buyers who walked it in April. The benchmark for what counts as a meaningful announcement has been reset.

For legacy brands, this is an opportunity to reassert institutional depth, which Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Isuzu, and Suzuki are positioned to do through breadth of lineup and after-sales network. For Chinese and EV-native brands, the play is sharper pricing and feature density. The two strategies will be visible in real time across the four-day run, and the share-of-voice contest will be measured less by booth size than by which launches actually generate post-show search volume and dealer foot traffic.

What To Watch

The launch density at PIMS 2026 will be the cleanest indicator of which brands are still investing aggressively despite the demand environment. Brands that arrive with multiple new model previews, firm pricing, and test drive availability are signaling that they view market share as winnable in the current cycle. Brands that arrive with refreshed lineups but no new product are conserving. The difference will be visible by day two.

Tickets are PHP 200 for regular admission on site, with online pre-sales priced at PHP 150. Show hours run 11 AM to 9 PM on June 4 and 10 AM to 9 PM from June 5 to 7. The venue is World Trade Center Metro Manila, Pasay City.

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