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housands of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) will be involved in producing Esemka cars, including SMK vocational school graduates, who will be employed to produce the automobile, which reportedly has a wait list several thousand names long.

The production process will apply the cottage-industry system, believed able to absorb vocational school graduates and reduce investment costs.

Technically, the production of the Esemka car will be handled by PT Solo Manufaktur Kreasi, with its headquarters at the Kiat Motor automotive workshop in Klaten.

Solo Techno Park (STP) Development and Services director Gampang Sarwono said vocational school graduates could not be properly employed if Esemka car production applied the full-machine, or robotic, production concept.

“SMK students will only become spectators in a full-machine system, although the main intention is to absorb as many SMK graduates as possible,” Gampang said on Monday.

Gampang added the decision to apply the cottage-industry concept would also reduce investment costs.

He said Rp 800 billion (US$94 million) would be needed to buy automatic machines only.

The total amount of investment is not currently known because manufacturers are in the planning stage, including planning the construction of a automotive plant in the STP, comprising 4 hectares for business and 4 hectares for training.

In principle, present facilities will be improved and will include SMEs that are already involved.

Gampang said locally made Esemka cars would go through inspections and a quality control process in order to be perfect.

“But, perfection takes time. We have received many orders. Later, when it is already in use, a lot of people will know what needs to be improved,” Gampang said.

In response to controversy on the car, such as claims that the Esemka adopted that of the Chinese Foday, Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo said he did not want the matter to dampen the spirit of the SMK students who were working on the car.

Joko urged everyone not to compare the Esemka car with those from automobile industries that have been operating for dozens of years.

“We’re like kindergarten. Don’t compare with other car companies that have already been produced cars for 60 years. The car will be further improved in the future,” he said.

Joko said that all cars would pass from one phase to another until they became perfect.

“At the beginning, a car is likely not to be made 100 percent by a single manufacturer.”

Half of the cars could be produced by the students and the remaining parts could be taken from others and then assembled. Joko hoped that there would be progress every quarter.

“The process is like that, apparently. The birth of a national product should be appreciated and supported. The main thing is that we must move on,” Joko said.

When production begins, every component will be produced by SMEs along with SMK students and graduates who are familiar in producing the components.

However, some components will still be imported, such as engine control units (ECU), fuel injection units and some parts of gear boxes.