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Domestic car sales up 19% in September, immune to fuel hike
Domestic car sales has posted growth in September, indicating that demand for new cars has proved resilient to last month's hike in subsidized fuels.
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PT Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM) marketing directors Anton Jimmi Suwandy (center) and Kazunori Minamide (right) talk with Toyota Team Indonesia (TTI) racer Demas Agil during the launch of the Toyota New Yaris in Jakarta on Sept. 22, 2020. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
T
he hike in the prices of subsidized fuels early last month has done little to hamper car sales, experts and industrialists say, as eased COVID-19 restrictions have paved the way for growth.
According to a report from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo), domestic car sales were up 19 percent year-on-year (yoy) and 3.1 percent month-to-month (mtm) to total 99,986 units in September.
Year-to-date (ytd) sales had increased 20.8 percent yoy to 758,216 units, while cumulative ytd sales were also up 0.4 percent compared to the first nine months of 2019. The figure was even higher compared to September 2019, with sales growth reaching 7.3 percent.
“I gotta say, ‘Wow!’ This is a real indication that economic growth is very good. Why? Because [cars are] not a basic need,” automotive expert Bebin, who is also a former executive of PT Hyundai Mobil Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Sales of two-wheel drive (2WD) cars in September, comprising 56.9 percent of the total market share, were up 19 percent yoy to 56,826 units, and 12 percent higher than the figure in September 2019.
Meanwhile, cumulative 2WD sales had increased 23 percent yoy to 431,386 units, and 4 percent higher than in the first three quarters of 2019.
Sales of fuel-efficient and affordable 2WD cars, which have engine capacities below 1,200 cc, were up 32 percent yoy to 18,469 units in September, but still 4 percent lower than the figure in September 2019.
