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merican-based carmaker Ford Motor Indonesia (FMI) and Japanese automotive company Mazda Motor Indonesia (MMI) have recently appointed new president directors to lead the companies in Indonesia’s growing automotive markets.

FMI appointed Bagus Susanto as its managing director, replacing outgoing president director Will Angove, while MMI named Keizo Okue as its new president director, replacing Yoshiya Horigome.

Both Angove and Horigome are returning to their home countries, Australia and Japan, respectively. Angove is going to spend his retirement with his family, while Horigome will be joining Mazda Motor Corporation headquarters.

Horigome will return to Japan, where he will soon be appointed to handle the Caribbean and Central and South America sales department, according to the company’s press release.

The newly appointed chiefs said separately that both companies had not yet planned to build new factories in the country. However, they have announced their plans to open more outlets.

Bagus told reporters during the media gathering that FMI was planning to open seven Ford distribution outlets worth Rp 50 billion (US$ 5.85 million) each in Indonesia in the second half of the year.

“We are planning to build new outlets in Cirebon, Kudus, Tegal, Batam, Tangerang, Bekasi and Cibubur,” Bagus said.

The new outlets will bring Ford’s total number of outlets in Indonesia to 35.

Meanwhile, MMI is planning to open six more outlets, which will take its total number of outlets to 34 by the end of the year, according to Okue, who refused to elaborate on the details.

In terms of car sales, FMI sold 9,359 units in the first seven months of this year, a 185 percent increase compared with the same period last year, “thanks to Ford Focus sales, which increased 129 percent compared with last year, as well as Ford Escape and Ford Everest sales, which rose by 46 percent and 26 percent, respectively,” Bagus said.

In July, FMI celebrated a record sales month, off-loading 1,717 units, with Ford Ranger its best-selling car.

When asked about the company’s sales target by the end of the year, Bagus said, “as much as possible, hopefully much more than we sold last year.”

Meanwhile, MMI sold 4,700 units in the first semester, with the new Mazda2 sales contributing 62 percent of the total sales.

“We aim to sell 8,000 units by the end of this year,” Okue said, adding that MMI had sold more than 6,000 units last year.

“The Indonesian market is very unique because it is increasing so quickly. There are not many markets where you see this. We have a lot of opportunities here,” Okue said. (swd)