IMI Philippines and ZERO Motorcycles on Wednesday inaugurated the first high powered e-motorcycle manufacturing assembly line at the Laguna Technopark facility of IMI.
The historic ribbon-cutting ceremony was led by Arthur Tan, CEO of IMI; Sam Paschel, CEO of Zero Motorcycles; Heather Variava, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in the Philippines; Gov. Marjorie Ramos-Samaniego, Department of Trade & Industry – Board of Investments, Corieh Dichosa, Executive Director of the Philippine Board of Investments; Gen. James Andres Melad (Ret.), Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure of DOTr; and Vivan Santos, Deputy Director General for Operations of PEZA.
The strategic manufacturing collaboration between the two companies will help address the global demand for high-powered motorcycles and will increase access to the world’s full-sized all-e-motorcycles, with a projection of about 16,000 bikes per year in 2025.
Showcased during the inauguration was the full electric motorcycle assembly, the battery assembly set-up (modules and electronics) as well as the first units that were assembled in the country.
“The partnership will further strengthen our firm commitment in carrying out the development of EV ecosystem in the Philippines while securing a greener future for Filipinos,” asserted Tan. “IMI is uniquely positioned to have both the competency of electronics manufacturing as well as e-bike assembly under one roof,” he added.
“For us, IMI is a perfect partner to expand our manufacturing in the region, a good place to build a global base,” Paschel said. This complements IMI’s manufacturing and supply of EV chargers which are currently integrated and installed by Greenstrum in more than 50 sites across the country.
“With Zero and IMI together, there is no partnership or set of brands in the world that is in better position to take advantage of this transformation and to lead and reshape how two-wheel transportation is going to happen,” Paschel said.
“The IMI team and the Ayala group have exceeded every expectation I could ever have as the CEO of a leading global EV company, and I am more firm in my convictions today that the decision we made about the Philippines and more specifically IMI was 100% the right decision for this brand at this moment of history,” he added.
Earlier this year, the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the two companies was witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last May in Washington, D.C. The cooperation agreement has a projected amount of USD65 million annually to support the country’s electric vehicle ecosystem.
