TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Motorcycle sales keep rising thanks to traffic woes
The country's largest motorcycle dealer said it had enjoyed healthy sales thanks to persistent traffic jams and poor public transportation
Change Size
T
he country's largest motorcycle dealer said it had enjoyed healthy sales thanks to persistent traffic jams and poor public transportation.
Julius Aslan, the marketing director of PT Astra Honda Motor, the sole distributor of Honda motorcycles in Indonesia, said buyers were often former public transport users.
"When people are frustrated by public buses, or sick of traffic jams, they will try motorcycles. It's cheap, and has much better mobility," he recently told The Jakarta Post.
Today, with a mere Rp 500,000 (US$50) down payment, people can bring home a brand new motorcycle using a credit scheme with affordable instalments.
Honda is still expanding opportunities to collaborate with financing companies to create loan schemes with more benefits for its customers, Julius said.
As of September 2009, Honda's sales topped the national motorcycle sales with 45.8 percent market share by selling 1,897,850 motorcycles. Its competitor, Yamaha, followed with 1,871,700 sales or 45.2 percent market share, according to the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI).
Motorcycle national sales are expected to reach 5.8 million units by the end of 2009, meaning that more than 15,000 units are sold everyday.
Next year, motorcycle sales are forecast to increase by 10 percent, Julius said.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo's administration has planned to start constructing a 15-kilometer Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in 2011. More Transjakarta fleets and routes are also targeted to be completed during the next few years.
Julius acknowledged that the motorcycle sales would be affected if decent mass transportation facilities in Jakarta were settled.
"But the impact would be small. Our sales are not only in Jakarta."
Besides, he continued, public transportation had operating-time limitations, while people's need to move could be anytime.
As long as the demand stays high, Julius went on, the motorcycle industry would keep selling, despite the car users' opinion that the overwhelming motorcycles have exacerbated traffic congestion.
"Don't blame it on us. We won't sell if there is no demand," he said.
"Besides, in my opinion, the mess on the road is not closely linked to the number of motorcycles. It's more to do with the lack of riding skills and discipline."
Rumors circulated that the automotive industry businessmen have pushed the authorities to slow down plans to establish good public transportation, worrying that it could affect automotive sales.
On the other hand, the government may also have enjoyed the boon of the lack of mass transportation as more vehicles mean more incomes from the taxes.
Commenting on the rumors, Julius said the government must have reasons behind the prolonged MRT.
"It's because it's hard to construct monorails. That's their issue - it has nothing to do with us." (bbs)
