BIZ BUZZ: Naia parking fees set to soar

Thinking of parking your car overnight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia)? You may want to think again.

That’s because effective Oct. 1 this year, overnight or 24-hour parking fees are expected to skyrocket to P1,200 from the current P300 for four-wheelers, according to the new parking rate schedule seen by Biz Buzz.

For short-term parking, the fee will also increase to P50 for the first two hours and P25 for every succeeding hour, from the current P40 for the first three hours and P15 per succeeding hour.

Perhaps this is all part of the plan to decongest the airport, one can guess.

Meanwhile, airlines will not be spared from parking fee hikes, based on the working numbers.

The new rates show that the aircraft parking fee will likewise surge to P28,000 for the first four hours from the current rate of P19,044. Any hour in excess will mean shelling out an extra P28,000 under the new schedule from the previous P16,736.

These figures represent a hike in parking fees of 47.03 percent and 67.3 percent, respectively.

As it seems that the higher fees will indeed be enforced, as Biz Buzz sources say, those who need to park their vehicle have to just brace for impact. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Ayala unit gives up KTM, Husqvarna

KTM AG, the largest European motorcycle manufacturer from Austria that specializes in “Ready to Race” on and off road vehicles, has cut ties with Adventure Cycle Philippines Inc. (ACPI), a member of the Ayala Group.

In a social media post last Friday, KTM Philippines said that ACPI will cease operations as KTM and Husqvarna distributor on Sept. 30, as ACPI had “mutually agreed” with KTM AG to pre-terminate the importer agreement after eight years of partnership.

Thus effective Oct. 1, Lucky MAPI will take over as the new exclusive distributor of KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles and products in the Philippines.

Lucky MAPI will also oversee the marketing, sales, after-sales services and other operational activities relating to the KTM and Husqvarna Motorcycle brands in the Philippines.

But it looks like it will just be the distributorship agreement that will be changed, as the motorcycles will still be made at the Laguna plant of KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing Inc., a joint venture majority owned by AC Industrials in partnership with KTM AG.

This makes sense considering the Ayala Group’s desire to push the electrical vehicle agenda, thus the focus on BYD, for example.

Given this, the character of the marriage with KTM has changed, but it’s not a divorce.

For now, at least. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao