PH auto customer experiences rises in 2026, study shows

MANILA: Filipino vehicle buyers are enjoying better ownership experience this year, a study showed.

Based on the Differential Singapore’s second annual Philippines Customer eXperience Index (CXI) Study, the overall customer experience index—conducted on April to July 2026 slightly grew to 864 from the 856 scored last year—meaning that sales and after-sales service are improving faster than satisfaction with the vehicles themselves.

The same study showed that the majority of the 11 automotive brands evaluated this year and in 2025 recorded higher Sales and Service Index scores—with the former growing by 24 points and the latter, 21 points—highlight the increased importance of dealership interactions in shaping customer perceptions. 

Differential Singapore’s study assessed customer experience based on three categories:

• Sales and Purchase Experience covers from initial inquiry to vehicle delivery, including pre-sales consultation, dealership facilities, salesperson interaction, vehicle selection, price negotiation and post-sales follow-up
• After-Sales Service Quality evaluates service reliability, communication and transparency, convenience, pricing fairness and the professionalism of dealership personnel
• Product Satisfaction examines vehicle styling, driving performance, interior comfort, ergonomics and user interface, storage practicality, entertainment systems and safety features.

“The encouraging news is that customer experience is improving across the Philippine automotive industry, particularly where customers interact directly with dealerships,” Differential Singapore Country Manager Sigfred Doloroso was quoted as saying.

“As competition intensifies, manufacturers and dealer networks are raising the bar for sales and service. That is good news for Filipino motorists, who stand to benefit from better support before and after buying a vehicle,” he added.

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Study highlights

The company’s latest study also showed a two-point increase in the Product Satisfaction Index.

Within Sales, Pre-Sales Information and Consultation, which had a rise of 33 points, Salesperson Interaction and Dealership Facilities reflected gains of 32 and 27 points, respectively. 

Under Service, Service Quality and Personnel and Facilities improved by 25 points each, while Convenience and Accessibility went up by 22 points.

In Product, Interior Design and Comfort improved by seven points. However, Safety and Security Features dropped by five points and Vehicle Sound Systems, by two points.

This year, the number of buyers using the internet before getting a vehicle slid down by 83 percent while the reported use of email in salesperson-to-customer communication jumped by 37 percentage points, followed by text messaging (up by 12 points), messaging applications (nine points) and face-to-face contact (three points).

Service processes also reflected gains, with walkaround inspections gaining 14 percentage points, service advisors’ familiarity with vehicle service history up by 14 points and service notifications enjoying a 12-point increase. 

Further, the said study showed that Chinese automotive brands rose to 889 from 839 the previous year—showing the biggest among the four country-of-origin groups assessed. This moved them from fourth to second place, ahead of Japanese and Korean brands on numerical scores.

American brands remained at the top at 894, but their lead over Chinese brands narrowed from 29 points to just five.

Korean brands improved by 24 points and Japanese brands by three. The changing scores suggest that competition among automotive brands is increasingly about the full purchase and ownership journey—not just vehicle features or price.

Among the 11 brands assessed , BYD had the biggest improvement in overall customer experience index—growing by 52 points and hitting 900 after scoring 848 in 2025. It also made progress across the three pillars

Category	Points increased
After-Sales Service	63
Sales	61
Product Satisfaction	48

Beyond its top overall numerical score, the breadth of BYD’s improvement is a signal to OEMs that competitive positions can change quickly when customer experience advances across multiple touchpoints.

The top three automotive brands for 2026 based on Differential Singapore’s customer experience index:

Brand	Index points
BYD	900
Ford	894
Isuzu	885

 “The most important finding is not simply which brand leads the rankings. It is that every brand evaluated in both years improved in sales and service, pointing to a wider industry effort to deliver better customer experiences,” Doloroso explained.

“For consumers, the ownership experience deserves as much attention as the vehicle itself. For OEMs and dealerships, the opportunity is to turn these insights into consistent, meaningful improvements at every stage of the customer journey.”

The study had 1,200 respondents nationwide who purchased vehicles between January and December 2025 and had them serviced during the same period. 

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