AC Industrials aiming to export KTM bikes

AYALA-LED AC Industrials Technology Holdings, Inc. said on Friday it is targeting to export 10,000 units of KTM motorcycles annually after receiving positive feedback from the market.

“We were looking to export 10,000 [ units annually but that’s going to be a few years out,” AC Industrials Chief Finance Officer Felipe Estrella 3rd told a news briefing in Makati City.

“We look at these as strategic opportunities for the business so we continue to explore the opportunity to try and make the Philippines a potential manufacturing site for auto or for vehicle given all the trends that are going on in the sector, including maybe the new technologies that evolve in mobility,” he added.

The company is also expanding its dealership network from 22 dealers now to 50 next year, of which 10 will be full dealerships while 18 will be smaller sales offices.

AC Industrials teamed up with Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM AG in April 2016 for the production and distribution of motorcycles in the Philippines.

In June this year, it completed the acquisition of 94.9 percent of German- based automotive supplier MT Misslbeck Technologies GmbH for 26.8 million euros or P1.49 billion. In May, it acquired an 80 percent stake in STI Enterprises Ltd., an electronics design and manufacturing solutions company based in the United Kingdom.

AC Industrials’ stakes in automotive- related businesses under AC Automotive include a 13- percent stake in Honda Cars Philippines Inc. ( HCPI); 15- percent stake in Isuzu Philippines Corp. ( IPC); and full ownership in Honda Cars Makati Inc. ( HCMI), Isuzu Automotive Dealers Inc. ( IADI), Volkswagen importerdistributor Automobile Central Enterprise Inc. ( ACEI) and Adventure Cycle Philippines Inc. ( ACPI).