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.

Jakarta Post

Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia: Riding history and passion

Brotherhood: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia pose for a photograph during a break on a touring trip

Sondang Grace Sirait (The Jakarta Post)
Wed, April 23, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia: Riding history and passion Brotherhood: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia pose for a photograph during a break on a touring trip. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia)" border="0" height="210" width="300">Brotherhood: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia pose for a photograph during a break on a touring trip. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia)

Sentiment drives most car enthusiasts to collect premium European cars

With three collectors’ items in tow and countless hours spent on doing things related to his favorite car make, Andy Karya says his ties with the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia are deep and personal. The same, he proudly claims, applies to the club’s 7,000 other members, whose ages range from 19 to 80.

“It’s definitely more than a hobby. We have our own accounting. We have a steady income from members and various sponsorships. We have a standardized organizational structure and activities in line with Stuttgart,” said Karya, who serves as the club’s vice president in charge of communications.

“We used to be the largest Mercedes-Benz community in the Asia Pacific, but now we’re officially the biggest in the world.”

Karya is right. Along with the rapid growth of Indonesia’s wealthy middle class, more people are now willing to spend money on luxury cars. Mercedes-Benz has been an exceptionally major player in the country’s premium vehicle market. Its popularity has continued to spread, with Indonesians, young and old, flocking to embrace new as well as older variants of the German car. As for those dubbed “classic”, the term refers to vehicles produced up until 1976.

Another contributing factor to the surge in the popularity of Mercedes-Benz, according to Karya, is pricing. “If you look back to, say, 2006, car prices used to be a lot higher. But in the past two to three years, prices have come down considerably. With the same amount of money, you can now get a secondhand Mercedes and start leasing a Japanese car. That’s what I see happening with our younger members,” said Karya, whose day job is as a digital creative consultant.

The club’s membership has benefited from this trend. According to its current demographics, 50 percent of the members are middle management professionals, 40 percent entrepreneurs and 10 percent students or retirees. Aside from a Rp 25,000 monthly fee, members are required to actively participate in the club’s events.

Because the club plays host to a large number of families with children, its organizers always make sure that the activities are family friendly. Charity events are a must, in line with its mission to be useful to society. There are also major annual gatherings, biweekly Sunday get-togethers and touring trips.

Touring trips are especially thrilling for the likes of Erwin Princen Banggas Sihite, a construction entrepreneur who is also the club’s secretary-general. Two or three times a year, he goes on short and long-distance touring trips. Not too long ago, he completed a 10-day tour to Aceh.

“For me, the best part about joining this club is the chance to socialize with other members, many of whom are my age and have similar backgrounds,” said Sihite, who drives a 1981 Tiger. “The fact that we get to go on touring trips together, long or short distance, is such a big thrill for me. Sometimes I take my family too.”

Thrilling experience: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia participate in a touring trip, part of the club’s regular activities that offers gives an enjoyable and thrilling experience to members. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia)Brotherhood: <)

B

span class="inline inline-none">Brotherhood: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia pose for a photograph during a break on a touring trip. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia)

Sentiment drives most car enthusiasts to collect premium European cars

With three collectors'€™ items in tow and countless hours spent on doing things related to his favorite car make, Andy Karya says his ties with the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia are deep and personal. The same, he proudly claims, applies to the club'€™s 7,000 other members, whose ages range from 19 to 80.

'€œIt'€™s definitely more than a hobby. We have our own accounting. We have a steady income from members and various sponsorships. We have a standardized organizational structure and activities in line with Stuttgart,'€ said Karya, who serves as the club'€™s vice president in charge of communications.

'€œWe used to be the largest Mercedes-Benz community in the Asia Pacific, but now we'€™re officially the biggest in the world.'€

Karya is right. Along with the rapid growth of Indonesia'€™s wealthy middle class, more people are now willing to spend money on luxury cars. Mercedes-Benz has been an exceptionally major player in the country'€™s premium vehicle market. Its popularity has continued to spread, with Indonesians, young and old, flocking to embrace new as well as older variants of the German car. As for those dubbed '€œclassic'€, the term refers to vehicles produced up until 1976.

Another contributing factor to the surge in the popularity of Mercedes-Benz, according to Karya, is pricing. '€œIf you look back to, say, 2006, car prices used to be a lot higher. But in the past two to three years, prices have come down considerably. With the same amount of money, you can now get a secondhand Mercedes and start leasing a Japanese car. That'€™s what I see happening with our younger members,'€ said Karya, whose day job is as a digital creative consultant.

The club'€™s membership has benefited from this trend. According to its current demographics, 50 percent of the members are middle management professionals, 40 percent entrepreneurs and 10 percent students or retirees. Aside from a Rp 25,000 monthly fee, members are required to actively participate in the club'€™s events.

Because the club plays host to a large number of families with children, its organizers always make sure that the activities are family friendly. Charity events are a must, in line with its mission to be useful to society. There are also major annual gatherings, biweekly Sunday get-togethers and touring trips.

Touring trips are especially thrilling for the likes of Erwin Princen Banggas Sihite, a construction entrepreneur who is also the club'€™s secretary-general. Two or three times a year, he goes on short and long-distance touring trips. Not too long ago, he completed a 10-day tour to Aceh.

'€œFor me, the best part about joining this club is the chance to socialize with other members, many of whom are my age and have similar backgrounds,'€ said Sihite, who drives a 1981 Tiger. '€œThe fact that we get to go on touring trips together, long or short distance, is such a big thrill for me. Sometimes I take my family too.'€

Thrilling experience: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia participate in a touring trip, part of the club'€™s regular activities that offers gives an enjoyable and thrilling experience to members. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia)
Thrilling experience: Members of the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia participate in a touring trip, part of the club'€™s regular activities that offers gives an enjoyable and thrilling experience to members. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia)

Drive for your life

Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia was established in 2004 as an amalgamation of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Club Indonesia, the Mercedes-Benz Tiger Club Indonesia and Mercedes-Benz Jeep Indonesia, in affiliation with Mercedes-Benz Club Management in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of more than 80 such clubs spread across the world.

Today, the Mercedes-Benz Club Indonesia boasts 72 smaller clubs spread throughout Indonesia representing more than 9,000 cars of various models. The member clubs and communities are differentiated according to variants and regions, each requiring a minimum of 15 to 25 units. There are the Mercedes-Benz Tiger Club Indonesia, the Mercedes-Benz Boxer Club Indonesia and the Mercedes-Benz W202 Club Indonesia, to name a few.

Many Mercedes-Benz owners in Indonesia, like Karya, are second or third generation car aficionados. '€œMy great-grandfather owned a Mercedes. My grandfather owned a Mercedes. My father owned a Mercedes. In fact, I bought my first one, a 1995 Boxer, from him,'€ said Karya, whose wife also drives a Mercedes.

Others join the bandwagon out of passion. Less than 10 years ago, Sihite had only one Mercedes. But as he fell in love with the brand, his collection grew to six. Now not a day goes by without him riding in one of his favorite cars.

As its enthusiasts will tell you, this club has everything to offer to anyone with a penchant for premium European cars.

Stopping momentarily to take a sip of iced tea, he then pulls a membership card out of his wallet that he proudly says was printed by the company management in Germany. '€œWe'€™re talking about collectors'€™ items that don'€™t only last for five years. We'€™re talking about sentimental value,'€ said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.