The leadership teams of Ayala Corporation and KTM AG of Austria, the joint-venture partners behind KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing, Inc. (KAMMI), together with their key dealers and motorcycle enthusiasts, led the exciting inauguration of the state-of-the-art KTM assembly plant at the Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna, recently.
Gracing the landmark occasion were Fernando Zobel de Ayala, AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc. vice chairman of the board; Arthur Tan, president and CEO of AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc.; Peter Perberschlager, KTM AG vice president, Sales for Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East; and Senator JV Ejercito.
In his welcome remarks, Dino Santos, KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing, Inc. president and COO, extolled the values behind the partnership of Ayala and KTM. “Motorcycling involves a partnership, of both science and art; of man and machine working as one,” he explained. “For us at Ayala, we needed a partner that could win in producing the best motorcycles one can imagine – that is KTM.”
Meanwhile, KTM’s Perberschlager outlined the significance of the Philippines as its manufacturing hub in Asia. “We consider the Philippines as a very important and strategic market with very good international trading contacts,” he relayed. “We are very proud to partner with Ayala, with whom we share the same vision and values. We aim to be a serious player in the Asian region.”
Guests were treated to a special guided factory tour, allowing them a first-hand look of the plant’s world-class manufacturing processes and advanced facilities, which will have an initial production run of 6,000 motorcycles, with the goal of eventually expanding to 20,000 units annually.
The modern facility, which produces KTM’s ready to race line of motorcycles — the KTM 200 DUKE, KTM 390 DUKE, KTM RC 200, and the KTM RC 390 – has already rolled off 500 units destined for the local market. By the year end, they expect to begin exporting units to China, and The modern facility, which produces KTM’s ready to race line of motorcycles — the KTM 200 DUKE, KTM 390 DUKE, KTM RC 200, and the KTM RC 390 – has already rolled off 500 units destined for the local market. By the year end, they expect to begin exporting units to China, and thereafter, to several ASEAN countries.