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Car makers upbeat about RI market
Car makers expressed optimism about the future of the countryâs automotive market at the ongoing 2014 Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) as they ramp up sales and production in Southeast Asiaâs largest economy, which is predicted to replace Thailand as the worldâs automotive hub in the near future
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ar makers expressed optimism about the future of the country's automotive market at the ongoing 2014 Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) as they ramp up sales and production in Southeast Asia's largest economy, which is predicted to replace Thailand as the world's automotive hub in the near future.
PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) president director Hiroyuki Fukui said he was certain that his company would play a larger role in Indonesia through the realization of investments and increases in the country's exports.
'With Toyota Indonesia's potential and its advanced technology, we are optimistic that we can contribute more in our partnership with the government to develop the automotive industry, despite the numerous challenges,' Fukui said on Thursday at the IIMS event.
- Toyota aims to transform RI into regional production base, world export base
- Suzuki to open assembly plant next year to up capacity
- Mitsubishi, Datsun have high hopes for sales
In 2012, Toyota made a long term commitment to investing in Indonesia. The automotive giant has earmarked upwards of Rp 25 trillion to strengthen its grasp on the domestic market, constructing new plants and increasing production capacity from 130,000 units to 250,000 units per year.
PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) is also currently coming to the end of its construction of an engine production plant with a capacity of 216,000 units per year.
'We are proud and honored that Toyota Indonesia has grown together with the country. The investment of Rp 13 trillion announced by President Akio Toyoda in 2012 has been put to work and the group has grown in leaps and bounds to become the market leader here in Indonesia,' Fukui said.
Fukui said that all of the company's efforts aimed to transform the country into a regional production base and an export base for the global market. Toyota is looking to increase its exports from Indonesia by 30 percent, he added.
Meanwhile, Suzuki Motor Corp executive vice president Toshihiro Suzuki said that his company would continue to stimulate the growth of Indonesia's automobile industry by constructing an assembly factory at the beginning of next year.
In response to growing demand in the country, Suzuki said that the plant would expand the company's production capacity to 250 thousand units per year and help increase exports to other ASEAN countries.
Suzuki sold a record 2.69 million units globally in 2013, and current sales figures are growing at a pace exceeding last year. The company sold 1.89 million units worldwide from January to August.
'Indonesia is an extremely important market for Suzuki. It has the fourth highest sales volume in the world,' Suzuki said at the opening ceremony of his company's booth on Thursday.
Also at the IIMS, Mitsubishi Motor Corp launched its Rp 409 million-priced Delica, of which the company is confident it can sell 150 units per month thanks to high demand from domestic consumers.
Mitsubishi recently announced a US$600 million investment to build a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) factory in Bekasi, West Java.
As for Datsun Indonesia, general manager Indriani Hadiwidjaja said that the IIMS remained one of the most eagerly awaited automotive shows in Asia. She was intent on selling 600 units over the course of the motor show.
'We believe we can achieve that target. We sold 6,400 units from May to September,' Indriani said at the expo, adding that her company was targeting sales of 40,000 units by next March.
Datsun, a subsidiary of PT Nissan Motor Indonesia, is the only exhibitor at the event to showcase models of two low cost green cars (LCGC), the Go Panca and the Go+ Panca.
