Ayala Group to start selling electric Kia EV6 in January 2023

The Ayala Group on Wednesday said it will start selling electric vehicles next year, in line with its efforts to net zero greenhouse has emissions by 2050.

Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said its automobile business unit AC Motors — which manages the distribution of Volkswagen, Kia, and Maxus in the Philippines — will start selling the Kia EV6 in January 2023.

Its real estate unit Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is already gearing to launch the first set of charging stations across various estates in the country, which will be made available in Ayala Land Malls and Estates.

According to the Kia website, the EV6 is a five-passenger sport crossover with a 310-mile EPA estimated all-electric range rear-wheel drive (RWD), and a 274-mile EPA estimated all-electric range all-wheel drive (AWD).

The charging stations are being manufactured by another unit Integrated Microelectronics Inc. (IMI) in  Laguna.

“We are excited by how these developments can help usher in new technologies, while also satisfying growing demand for more eco-conscious product and service offerings,” Zobel de Ayala said during the Ayala Integrated Summit.

“We look forward to seeing more initiatives that can get us closer to our net zero objective,” he added.

The Ayala Group last year announced its commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with the roadmap targeted to be completed within the year.

This will cover the full accounting and validation of emissions, intervention assessments, and setting science-reference targets for the group’s business units.

ALI and the energy platform ACEN Corp. have been reported to complete their greenhouse gas emissions baselining, including Scope 3 emissions in their value chains.

“With our environmental ambitions in sight, I believe we must also place ourselves on the path towards setting similarly bold social targets for the Ayala Group,” Zobel said.

“More and more have we seen the far-reaching effects of long-standing social inequity and its lingering impacts on generations of Filipinos,” he added.

Ayala Corp.'s subsidiaries include Alveo Land Corp., Amorsedia Development Corp., Avida Land Corp., Ayalaland Malls Inc., Makati Development Corp., Ayala hotels Inc., and Ayala Property Management Corp., among others.

Shares in Ayala Corp. were trading down P4.00 or 0.62% at P645.00 apiece as of 1:05 p.m. on October 19, 2022. —KG, GMA News