MANILA, Philippines - Europe's largest carmaker, Volkswagen AG, has tapped the Ayala group to distribute its passenger vehicles in the Philippines, citing the local conglomerate's "excellent reputation and market knowledge."

In a recent statement, Germany-based Volkswagen said its partnership with Ayala’s wholly owned subsidiary, Ayala Automotive Holdings Corporation, "brings together two premier corporate names to compete in an industry with high growth potential."

"Building on the Ayala Group’s excellent reputation and market knowledge, we are excited about offering consumers in the Philippines Volkswagen’s outstanding line-up of vehicles and providing them with an unparalleled level of sales and service experience," said Volkswagen's Weiming Soh, President, Commercial Operations for Greater China/ASEAN.

“We are very excited to bring Volkswagen’s technology and engineering expertise to the Philippine market. This partnership will no doubt enhance our current portfolio of auto brands given the dominant position of Volkswagen in the global automotive market," Ayala Corporation President and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.

"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.

The Ayala unit has interests in Honda Cars Philippines, the second-biggest auto assembler in the Philippines by overall sales, and in Isuzu Philippines Corporation, a leading distributor of cars, trucks, and engines.

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% share of the passenger car market.

Ayala Corporation is one of the Philippines' oldest business groups. It has stakes in real estate development, banking and financial services, telecommunications, water infrastructure development, electronics manufacturing, and business process outsourcing. Recently, it invested into power generation and transport infrastructure development. - Rappler.com