Ayala subsidiary to distribute Volkswagen cars in PHL

Ayala Automotive Holdings Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, has bagged the distributorship of Volkwagen passenger cars in the Philippines, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday.   In a statement, Germany-based Volkswagen said its partnership with the Ayala subsidiary brought together “two premier corporate names to compete in an industry with high growth potential."   However, no date has been set for the start of actual operations.   According to the statement, the Volkswagen Group is the world’s second largest automobile manufacturer as of 2011, with global sales of 8.265-million units accounting for a 12.3 percent share of the passenger car market.   Its vehicle products were distributed in the Philippines through the Guevara family in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Auto Prominence Corporation then succeeded them in the distributorship.   Volkswagen has 99 production plants in 27 countries, while its vehicles are sold in 153 countries.   Volkswager AG Greater China/ASEAN president for Commercial Operations Weiming Soh expects the partnership with Ayala to be a success.   “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 No. 1 car manufacturer by 2018,” he said.   “This partnership will no doubt enhance our current portfolio of auto brands given the dominant position of Volkswagen in the global automotive market,” said Ayala president & COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala.   “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 added.   Ayala Automotive has interests in Honda Cars Philippines and in Isuzu Philippines Corp. through its dealerships Honda Cars Makati Inc. and Isuzu Automotive Dealership Inc. They deliver 51 percent of Honda car sales and 31 percent of Isuzu’s in the country. — With Gian Geronimo/VS, GMA News