Ayala group bags deal to distribute Volkswagen cars in Philippines
MANILA - Ayala Corp. is set to bring the Volkswagen brand to the Philippines as the local conglomerate and the Wolfsburg-headquartered German carmaker aim to capitalize on the high-growth potential of the automotive industry.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, AC said Europe’s largest carmaker appointed Ayala Automotive Holdings Corp to distribute Volkswagen passenger vehicles in the country.

“We are very excited to bring Volkswagen’s technology and engineering expertise to the Philippine market," said Fernando Zobel de Ayala, AC president and chief operating officer.

"This partnership will no doubt enhance our current portfolio of auto brands given the dominant position of Volkswagen in the global automotive market. This will allow us to offer a much wider range of passenger vehicles in the local market, which will reinforce further Ayala’s strong presence in the local automotive industry," he said.

The distributorship agreement will expand the Ayala Group's automotive business. The conglomerate held a 46 percent share of Honda sales and 32 percent of Isuzu at end-June.

"Building on the Ayala Group’s excellent reputation and market knowledge, we are excited about offering consumers in the Philippines Volkswagen’s outstanding line-up of vehicles and providing them with an unparalleled level of sales and service experience. As an important part of Volkswagen’s Asean growth strategy, we, jointly with the Ayala Group, plan to rapidly and robustly establish the brand Volkswagen in the Philippines, contributing to our vision to become the world’s number one car manufacturer by 2018," said Weiming Soh, head of Volkswagen AG's commercial operations for Greater China and the Asean region.

The Volkswagen Group was the world’s second largest automobile manufacturer in 2011, with global sales of 8.265 million units accounting for a 12.3 percent share of the passenger car market.

Volkswagen has 99 production plants in 27 countries. At end-2011, the carmaker had more than 500,000 employees worldwide, with vehicles sold in 153 countries.

Besides the auto industry, AC is in the business of real estate development, banking and financial services, telecommunications, water infrastructure development, electronics manufacturing, and business process outsourcing. It recently entered new sectors with investments in power generation and transport infrastructure development.
Ayala group bags deal to distribute Volkswagen cars in Philippines - InterAksyon.com