Motorcycle manufacturer KTM, through Ayala Automotive, opened its showroom in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig yesterday September 9.
The event was part of Ayala Automotive’s expansion of KTM’s reach in the Philippine motorcycle market, opening up more stores within the year and announcing the manufacture of KTM motorcycles locally by 2017.
Ayala Corporation and KTM regional executives were present at the event, including Ayala Corporation’s Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and his brother, President and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala.
As part of the opening festivities at the newly-opened branch, KTM brought in the award-winning, company-supported stunt rider Rok Bagoros from Slovenia to entertain the crowd with extreme stunts.
At the launch party, Ayala Corporation Industrial President and CEO Arthur Tan confirmed the company’s planned opening of KTM motorcycle production in the Philippines in the first quarter of next year: “By January next year, you’ll get an opportunity to ride the exact same bikes that you can get here, but built in the Philippines.”
The opening of a KTM-manufacturing facility in the country is part of Ayala Corporation’s intent to expand its automotive business from just dealership to including manufacturing.
“The clear reason is to have passion and purpose. The passion and the purpose comes together because we found a partner—a true partner—who believed that we can actually change the fate of a country that then looks beyond a service-backed industry and into a manufacture-based industry, and believing that the Philippines and all the capabilities that is inside the country is enough to be able to be competitive on a global scale,” Tan said in his speech to the guests.