T

he eco-friendly Datsun GO+ Panca, which will be sold at between Rp 85 million (US$7,371) and Rp 103 million, might erode the market share of low multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) due to its cheaper price.

That was the prediction of Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) head Sudirman MR and PT Suzuki Indomobil Sales (SIS) marketing and networking development director Davy Jeffry Tulian.

'€œThere might be a change or correction in [low MPV] sales, whether in the form of segmentation or volume change.

But I think we must first observe and study what the magnitude of the impact will be for the low MPV market,'€ Sudirman said as quoted by kompas.com.

Meanwhile, Davy predicted that the low MPV market share might decrease to 25 percent from the current 27 to 28 percent, as the price of the Datsun GO+ Panca was competitive with that of low MPVs such as the Toyota Avanza, Daihatsu Xenia, Suzuki Ertiga, Chevrolet Spin and Honda Mobilio.

Sudirman, however, remained upbeat that low MPVs would still find their market share because the ground clearance of low cost green cars (LCGCs) such as the Datsun GO+ Panca might not be suitable for some parts of the country. Ground clearance is the distance between the lowest point on the vehicle and the road.

'€œEven though several car types already have high ground clearance, they can'€™t fit in several regions. Meanwhile, LCGC ground clearance is still low compared with low MPVs. So the LCGC class wouldn'€™t fit in some regions,'€ Sudirman explained.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Japan'€™s second biggest automaker, aims to sell 40,000 eco-friendly cars under its revived Datsun brand. With the Datsun GO+ Panca, a seven-seater MPV, as its flagship vehicle, Nissan wants to reach out to old Datsun fans and middle-class customers in Indonesia.

Nissan'€™s Datsun brand chief Vincent Cobee said on Thursday that by joining the government'€™s LCGC program, Datsun hopes to promote car ownership outside of Jakarta.

Datsun plans to increase distribution outlets from 39 dealers at present to 95 outlets by March 2015.

The Datsun GO+ Panca, which will be delivered to customers from June, is the first model to be produced at Nissan'€™s new plant in Purwakarta, West Java.

The new model is expected to boost Nissan'€™s overall sales in Indonesia to 90,000 in the ongoing fiscal year, a 55 percent increase from the previous fiscal year ending on March 31, said Nissan corporate vice president Toru Hasegawa.

WTC Mangga Dua Used Car Market senior manager marketing Herjanto Kosasih told kompas.com that the Datsun GO+ Panca would have a significant impact on the market.

Meanwhile, PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) vice president director Suparno Djasmin said the development of the MPV market in Indonesia was dynamic and significant. TAM on Friday launched the New Nav1, which is a seven-seater high MPV.

'€œLast year, sales of high MPVs were still below 10,000 units,'€ Suparno said, as quoted by Antara news agency. The figure represents only 2 percent of overall MPV sales of 500,000 units. In 2012, demand for high MPV cars only reached 4,000 units, or 1 percent of nationwide MPV sales.

'€œDemand for high MPV is on the rise, because more players are coming in,'€ Suparno said. Toyota began marketing the Nav1 in Indonesia in December 2012.

Demand for high MPVs has been dominated by the Nissan Serena, Toyota Nav1 and Mazda Biante.

Suparno was optimistic that the high MPV market, with machine capacity of about 2,000 cc, will continue to grow in the future, although sales would be much lower than low MPVs such as the Toyota Avanza, which could see sales topping 15,000 units per month, or medium MPVs such as the Kijang Innova with sales of more than 5,000 units per month. (ask)

Esther Samboh contributed to this story