Ayala-KTM venture to export 80% of motorcycle output next year

THE Ayala-KTM partnership plans to export 80% of 12,000 motorcycles next year, Ayala Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said.

At the Trade department’s manufacturing summit on Thursday, Mr. Zobel said its partnership with the Austria-based KTM AG has so far produced over 23,000 units, exporting 62%. Majority of exports are sent to China.

“We entered the motorcycle manufacturing business in 2015 in partnership with KTM,” he said.

“In 2021, 80% of the factory’s production of over 12,000 motorcycles will be exported, with 21% to the ASEAN region.”

The partnership running under Ayala’s automotive unit was announced in 2016. Ayala-led Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. launched the manufacturing facility for KTM a year later.

He added that the business saw a 160% increase in Philippine sales during the second half of 2020.

“Domestically, the pandemic has also encouraged growth in demand for personal transportation.”

Mr. Zobel said Ayala and KTM plan to double plant capacity over the next three years. — J.P. Ibañez