Bob Palanca starts with the numbers.

Every day, the managing director of BYD Cars Philippines checks sales, inventory and dealer performance, along with customer concerns and problems that could slow the business.

But the most important to him is what happens next.

“I want to know where we stand, what is at risk, who owns the action, and when it will be resolved,” Palanca said. “I do not believe issues should remain open without clear accountability.”

That habit says much about how Palanca works after more than three decades in the automotive industry.

He now leads a company that has gone from a small player in the Philippine market to one of the country’s biggest-selling automotive brands within a few years.

Palanca, however, still describes himself by the job that kept him closest to customers.

“Regardless of my title, I still consider myself as a salesman at heart,” he said.

Palanca entered the automotive business in 1994 and built his career around sales, dealerships and distribution.

Trailblazer

By 2021, he was chief operating officer of Iconic Dealership Inc. under AC Motors, where he handled retail operations across several brands.

Those years taught him that a good vehicle and a competitive price are only the beginning. Sales also depend on product planning, supply and financing, while registration, parts and aftersales must work after the customer leaves the showroom.

That experience became particularly important when he took responsibility for BYD Cars Philippines.

Palanca became managing director in July 2024, around a year after ACMobility and BYD began their passenger vehicle distribution partnership in the country.

He considers accepting the job one of the more difficult decisions of his career.

“It meant leaving the familiarity of an established environment to help build a relatively new brand in one of the country’s most competitive markets,” Palanca said.

He knew there were risks, although he also saw an automotive industry beginning to change.

“I wanted to be part of leading that change,” he said.

At that time, BYD was still establishing itself among Filipino buyers. The company had battery electric cars in its lineup, while its DM-i plug-in hybrid models later gave customers another route into electrified vehicles.

The brand sold 4,780 passenger vehicles in 2024 and finished 11th in the Philippine market with a reported one percent share. The pace changed considerably the following year.

BYD reported 26,122 retail sales in 2025, up 446 percent from the previous year. Its dealer network reached 79 operational locations by year-end, compared with 25 at the end of 2024.

When Palanca was asked what object or document best represented his career journey, he chose the 2025 industry sales report, which showed BYD ranking third overall in the Philippine automotive market.

To an outsider, it might look like another table filled with numbers. Palanca saw the long working days, difficult decisions and trust from dealers and customers behind the result.

The third-place finish also showed what his team believed a relatively new player could accomplish.

Team effort

Still, Palanca is careful about attaching his name alone to it.

“I am proud of BYD’s rapid rise in the Philippines, but I will never claim it as my achievement alone,” he said.

He credits the employees, dealer partners, suppliers and customers who contributed to the result. His responsibility, he said, is to set the direction, remove obstacles and help the organization perform.

Rapid expansion also means more customers who will eventually return for maintenance and repairs. A larger dealer network requires more service bays, parts inventories and employees who have to meet the same expectations.

Palanca does not dismiss concerns that the company could grow more quickly than its own systems and people can handle.

“I take seriously any feedback that we may be growing faster than our systems, processes, or people can support,” he said.

He believes the organization has to become stronger as sales increase because customer service cannot be allowed to suffer.

Palanca’s insistence on accountability came from an early setback. He learned that a team could work long hours and remain motivated yet still miss its objectives when responsibilities were unclear and nobody followed through.

The experience shaped how he leads today and what he expects of himself when something goes wrong.

“When things go well, give credit to the team,” he said. “When things go wrong, the leader must step forward, take ownership, and provide direction.”

He follows another rule when decisions have to be made under pressure. The customer and the long-term credibility of the brand come first.

“No immediate gain is worth compromising trust, integrity, or the organization’s reputation,” Palanca said.

Sales targets provide a practical example of how those principles reach daily operations. Setting the number may be easy, but achieving it responsibly depends on vehicle supply, dealer inventory and financing, with service and parts support ready for the cars already sold.

“Announcing the number is easy, but building the entire organization behind it is the real work,” he said.

Boots on the ground

That may explain why Palanca continues to spend time in the field despite his current title. He likes speaking with dealers and customers, checks the numbers himself and follows problems that still need answers. At the end of the month, he still feels the old salesman’s urge to keep working until the final day.

“I still enjoy being in the field, speaking with dealers and customers, reviewing the numbers, solving problems, and pushing until the very last day of the month,” he said.

I see Bob regularly at BYD events that I cover, and we talk whenever there is a chance. Our conversations are usually brief because he has an event to run while I have a story to cover.

At the recent AVID Summit in Makati, we saw each other as guests were arriving and exchanged greetings. Bob then told me that he regularly reads my Off the Road column in DAILY TRIBUNE and enjoys it.

The compliment meant a lot to me, especially coming from someone I respect and who has spent more than 30 years in the industry. I thanked him, although I do not think I managed to tell him how much I appreciated it.

The industry has changed considerably since Palanca entered it in 1994. Battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids now compete in a market long dominated by conventional engines, while customers can compare prices and specifications on their phones before speaking to a salesperson.

Palanca’s job has changed with it, although his approach remains tied to the people who buy, sell and support the cars.

He wants BYD’s work over the next decade to help make electrified vehicles practical and trusted by Filipino customers.

He also wants the company to be remembered for how it treated those customers as the market changed.

BYD has already shown that it can sell thousands of electrified vehicles. Palanca now has to help the organization sustain that growth without allowing customer service to fall behind.

He sees that responsibility as another reason to remain close to daily operations. Palanca does not believe an executive should sit far enough away that problems arrive only as finished reports. He wants to know what is happening while there is still time to act.

“I believe leadership is not about staying above the business,” Palanca said. “It is about staying close enough to understand what is really happening and making the right decisions.”

His title has changed and the numbers have grown much larger, but Palanca still considers himself a salesman at heart.