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omestic car and motorcycle sales were back on track in August after a temporary drop in July, giving optimism to both industries to meet or surpass their annual targets.

The country'€™s car sales surged by 5.8 percent to 96,728 units in August from 91,395 units in July, according to data from diversified conglomerate PT Astra International.

The figure brought the total of sold cars to 830,398 units in the January-August period from 792,356 units in the same period last year.

Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) secretary-general Eddy Sumedi said Tuesday that the temporary glitch in July was mainly due to most Indonesian consumers spending their money primarily on Ramadhan and Idul Fitri, which both fell in July.

'€œThe demand for cars started picking up again in August, resulting in an average 100,000 cars sold per month. This means that we will likely meet our sales target of 1.2 million units this year,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Gaikindo was also upbeat that the Indonesia Motor Show, which will run Sept. 18 to 28, would help boost auto sales in October onward.

Astra International investor relations head Tira Ardianti said that the national car sales target of 1.2 million units was achievable, considering that nationwide car sales had already surpassed 800,000 units.

She said, however, that the continuing economic slowdown, coupled with the possible inflation-rate hike due to possible fuel subsidy cuts, would create major challenge for most automakers.

'€œThe sales growth in August was actually experienced by wholesalers, while sales down to retailers were actually stagnant and will probably start to pick up around October,'€ she said.

Data from Astra International showed that Japanese brands remained top players in the country'€™s auto market.

Daihatsu, Isuzu, Toyota, UD Trucks and Peugeot, which are altogether marketed by Astra International, gained 52 percent market share in the first eight months of this year, followed by Honda and Suzuki with 13.3 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively.

Two-wheeler motorcycle sales also experienced a surge in August, hitting 609,198 units in August from 534,490 units in the previous month, resulting in total sales of 5.3 million units from January through August compared to 5.1 million during the same period last year.

Japanese brand Honda, which is marketed by PT Astra Honda Motor (AHM) '€” equally owned by Astra International and Japan-based Honda Motor Co. '€” gained the biggest market share of 62 percent, followed by Yamaha and Suzuki with 31.5 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI) vice president Johannes Loman said the association had estimated that motorcycle sales would hit 8 million units this year, a surge from 7.7 million last year.

'€œHowever, if there are certain circumstances, such as an inflation-rate hike, AISI will likely revise the target,'€ he said.