
What happened with Indonesian PHEV Market in 2026?
On another post I actually downloaded Gaikindo's wholesale report for YTD Sept 2026 because I wanted to know the rank beyond the top 20, but then I started to be curious about another data... that is the overall PHEV market. Especially after I realized BYD M6 DM isn't even on the top 20 sales list.
As usual, I used the trusty AI to obtain more information about the PHEV industry, and while PHEV has seen some upticks, it really struggled to take off to the mainstream as it is still 1.5% of the entire wholesale unit sales.
The uptick in June is contributed by BYD M6 DM, which recorded three consecutive months of over 1,000 sales. But then in September, the sales actually goes down as I guess most of the consumers that waited for the BYD M6 DM has already bought it.
So I asked AI to chart the top 10 PHEV cars that have the most wholesale unit sold so far. And a very interesting insights popped in.
- Chery Tiggo 8 CSH was the favorite PHEV so far and has dominated since 2025 for its affordable price. Until it gets beaten by BYD M6 DM because of the price and brand perception.
- Geely Starray EM-i failed to gain traction vs Chery Tiggo 8 CSH simply due to the fact that it is a 5-seater compared to 7-seater in Tiggo 8 CSH.
- Jetour T1 and T2 i-DM is actually taking steam recently, especially after its introduction in GIIAS 2026, recording hundreds of sales per month, signaling demand. They are heavily influenced by design of the car.
- Wuling Darion and Eksion initially gained traction, but recently has been pulled out since dealers are struggling to get customers to buy them. It's even lower than the JDM MPV trio in September, which are Honda Stepwgn, Nissan Serena, and Toyota Voxy, which recorded around 65, 30, and 66 respectively. (Though Darion and Eksion EV still sells well)
- Premium PHEV remains a niche as Lexus RX 450h+, BMW XM, and Volvo XC90 only sold a handful throughout 2026.
So why has PHEV stalled, even if price are becoming more affordable?
Well, there are several factors, and it's tied with the fact that Indonesians are still preferring the hybrid system (HEV) over PHEV.
PHEV generally didn't provide the cost-saving people hoped for. The purchasing price is still generally higher than HEV, depreciation is also slightly worse for PHEV, tax are the same, and no odd-even advantage in Jakarta. This means the TOC for PHEV is slightly higher than HEV if depreciation for PHEV is worse.
People don't have wall charger in general, and for those who do will opt for EV first. If you don't have wall charger, you're as good as getting a regular HEV system, as the efficiency is more or less the same. People who look for PHEV as their second car because they have EV already are still very small.
The conclusion is that if we want PHEV to grow, I think there has to be another government incentive to make it work. Our market is unique because used cars here are priced very generously, and this counterintuitively make people consider resell value over fuel efficiency. I mean the selling price of an Innova Zenix probably could cover more than a Chery Tiggo 9 CSH fuel savings if it depreciates worse.
And the only reason why Tiggo 8 CSH and BYD M6 DM sells as PHEV is because their resell value stays put most of the time. BYD is well known now as the Toyota of Chinese cars and, and Chery is a challenger on that.
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Anyway I enjoyed researching like this, so if you like a ranking chart like this, I probably will make more on HEV, ICE, and EV, and perhaps can go brand by brand, and category by category too if you like. I'm sorry I haven't updated Project Isetta yet, but I promise I will update it soon. Hongqi is coming, and I think there are one or two new models too that I should add. Thanks for reading!