Ayala forecasts ACMobility's profitability by 2026 amid rising EV demand

Ayala Corporation is expecting its car dealership arm, ACMobility, to enter profitability this year, driven by motorists’ growing appetite for electric vehicles (EVs) amid rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East war.

Ayala Corp. president and CEO Cezar Consing, speaking to reporters following the company’s stockholders meeting on Friday, said the Ayala group is seeing ACMobility to boom amid the fuel crisis, much like how fintech GCash got a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

After several years of registering losses, Consing said, “ACMobility is expected to turn profitable in 2026.”

ACMobility is the BYD and Kia passenger vehicles in the Philippines as well as the operator of the largest dealer network for Isuzu.

Ayala group’s optimism stems from the rapid demand for EVs seen in March —the height of global fuel price shocks triggered by the US and Israel’s airstrikes against Iran.

“From our rough calculations, we estimated that the penetration in March and in April was somewhere around 20 [%] to maybe 23% of the new vehicles sold,” ACMobility president and CEO Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala said.

This is a leap from 12% industry share of EVs seen last year.

“I think one reference that might be helpful is that from February to March, in terms of search volume, particularly for BYD… we saw a nearly 200% growth or increase in search volume,” Zobel de Ayala said.

Within the EV segment, Zobel de Ayala said ACMobility has an 80% market share.

Driven by this momentum, ACMobility is adjusting its long-term outlook for the EV segment.

“We believe that by 2030, nearly 50% of new vehicles sold will come from new energy vehicles or hybrids,” Zobel de Ayala said.

“Our goal at ACMobility is to have a significant stake in that segment. I believe, last year, when we looked at just the new energy vehicle segment, our portfolio contributed about 80%," he added.

"We understand with the introduction of new competitors and other factors that it’s going to be a goal of ours to maintain that kind of share as we go through the next four or five years. But it’s something that we think we can reasonably achieve,” the ACMobility chief said.