Young tycoon Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala beamed with his charming smile when asked how many BYD vehicles he owns.
Despite rushing to his next appointment, the 35-year-old chief executive officer of ACMobility stopped and told The STAR: ‘I respectfully decline (to answer) that one, but it could be growing over the coming years. I have a growing fondness for it.’
BYD has indeed been putting a big smile on Jaime Alfonso’s face, and perhaps those of Ayala Corp.’s top executives as well, given how the brand has been revving up sales of the conglomerate’s mobility arm.
It is also amassing a rapidly growing customer base in the Philippines. No less than tycoon Isidro Consunji is a self-confessed fan – a proud owner of not one, but a number of BYD vehicles. The chairman of the DMCI Group has been sharing how satisfied he is with the brand.
A former cabinet official is also raving about his BYD.
ACMobility has been riding high on its BYD partnership, which started in August 2023 and was renewed earlier this year.
Jaime Alfonso called BYD as ‘the primary engine’ in the acceleration of ACMobility’s unit sales by 82 percent to nearly 43,000 vehicles, and revenues by 84 percent to almost P55 billion in 2025. BYD also contributed more unit sales last year at 25,094 than the company’s entire portfolio in 2024, which stood at 23,483.
He said ACMobility’s successful partnership with the Chinese automotive giant is a reflection of Ayala’s DNA in using what it knows about the local market and teaming up with the best world-class partners.
‘BYD and Ayala’s partnership, it’s a reflection of the spirit of what Ayala likes to do. We like to address key national pain points, find the best partners in the world who have either the technology or the research and development capabilities to solve this problem best,’ he said.
For the only son of tycoon Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, BYD’s main advantage is that it is a vertically integrated manufacturer which has access to a lot of the raw materials that are needed to make the battery technology.
‘We also have to keep in mind, BYD was originally one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world, and that vertical integration provides a significant cost advantage, particularly for emerging markets like ourselves,’ he said.
Last year’s strong performance signals only the beginning of what could be ACMobility’s more high-speed growth in the coming years, specially as the company looks toward becoming profitable this 2026.
In 2025, ACMobility reported that the total industry already crossed a very important threshold, with 12 percent of all vehicles sold being in the electrified segment.
‘In particular, new energy vehicles sales grew more, from 23,000 in 2024 to just under 60,000 in 2025. Battery electric vehicles volume tripled, while hybrids more than doubled. Again, these were trends prior to the Middle East crisis, and since then, we believe that this demand will be even more pronounced at this point,’ Jaime Alfonso said.
ACMobility has made a deliberate effort to expand its mix of electrified models to become the most comprehensive portfolio of electrified vehicles in the country.
The company’s diverse portfolio currently includes two mainly distribution businesses in BYD and Kia and two exclusively retail businesses in Isuzu and Denza.
Nearly 60 percent of its retail sales last year were from electrified models, either plug-in hybrids or battery electrics, the models that require charging – a significant jump from the previous year’s mix, which stood at just 23 percent of total unit sales in the ACMobility portfolio.
From just five electrified models in 2023, ACMobility also now offers a total of 21 models across the battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid technologies.
In leading the electric vehicle charge for the Ayala Group, Jaime Alfonso, the man in the driver’s seat, has no intention of hitting the brakes as far investments when it comes to enhancing the ecosystem, reinforcing partnerships and introducing new models.