CONFIRMED: Changan splits up with Inchcape PH, to form new subsidiary

You may already have an idea about this, and it’s officially official. Inchcape Philippines has confirmed that it and Changan International Corporation have agreed to not renew their distribution partnership in the Philippines.

This is the second announcement of such this year for Inchcape Philippines as not long ago, the company announced that it will cease to distribute the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands in the country. With this, the Changan brand will be operated under a direct subsidiary like many other Chinese automotive brands on the market.

As a quick refresher, the Geely brand was formerly under the distributorship of Sojitz G Auto Philippines Corporation, and is now fully operated by the Geely Automotive International Corporation (GAIC) as Geely Motor Philippines (GMP), while MG was previously under The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI) and is now operated by SAIC Motor of China as MG Motor Philippines. Just recently, it was announced that Lynk & Co will soon transition to Geely Motor Philippines from the United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. (UAAGI).

With Changan now transitioning to new management once more, the company promises that existing customer commitments, including aftersales, warranty, parts and service support remain valid throughout the transition period which will run through the fourth quarter of the year.

“Since 2023, Inchcape Philippines and Changan have worked together to build the Changan brand in the Philippines, supported by Inchcape’s local expertise, distribution capabilities and dealer network. We are committed to supporting our customers, colleagues, dealers and business partners through this transition, and I would like to thank our team at Inchcape Philippines and our dealer partners for their valuable contribution to building and supporting the Changan brand in the Philippines over the past three years,” said Inchcape South Asia & Pacific Managing Director Alex Hammett.

With the Changan brand now gone from the local Inchcape portfolio, this leaves the distribution company with Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar & Land Rover for passenger cars, and Harley-Davidson for motorcycles. It was also rumored previously that the company will soon handle distribution of the XPeng brand, but that was quickly denied and the automaker has since announced its entry to the Philippines with a direct subsidiary.

Changan has had quite the storied past in the Philippines. It was originally sold under multiple brand names prior to 2020. In that year, it came fully as the Changan brand under the distributorship of HARI, kickstarting its presence in our market. 

In 2023, its local operations were taken over by Inchcape Philippines and things seem to have slowed down since then. For this year, it ranks 22nd in sales numbers among member brands of CAMPI at just 612 units as of July 2026. This is far behind brands like Geely, MG, and most especially BYD, which all sit in comfortable positions.