B

MW Indonesia has opened three new outlets in cooperation with its distributors in Jakarta to boost pre-owned sales and allow customers greater access to the German luxury brand.

BMW Indonesia president director Ramesh Divyanathan said in Jakarta on Wednesday that with the new outlets, the company expected the number of used BMWs to be sold under the BMW Premium Selection service would reach 600 this year.

The outlets, which have recently been opened by PT Astra Autoprima, PT Eurokars Prima Indonesia and PT Tunas Asset Sarana, brings the total number of BMW’s used car outlets to four. The first outlet was opened by PT Bestindo Car Utama in 2006.

The BMW Premium Selection service opens a wider market for the company and its dealers because the cars are much more affordable, yet are of a higher quality than second-hand BMWs in general, according to Ramesh.

“Currently our cheapest car costs around Rp 500 million [US$51,620]. The Premium Selection cars are cheaper than that,” he said.

To be qualified as a Premium Selection car, a BMW must be less than 5 years old or have less than 80,000 kilometers. It must have a service history at BMW-authorized dealers and pass a thorough quality check as well.

The service is part of the company’s long-term strategy to support its future sales. “This way we can bring in people very early into the BMW business. Even before they can afford a new BMW, they can afford a used BMW. They will develop the loyalty, build the love of BMW and we hope they will move up over the years to a new BMW,” Ramesh added.

The BMW Premium Selection program was first launched in 2006 and was only available at Bestindo Car Utama’s outlet in Bintaro, Tangerang. Bestindo president director Johannes Indra Tjuatja said that his firm saw sales grow by an average of 15 percent every year. In 2012, it sold 268 automobiles, higher than the 220 it sold in the previous year. The most popular models were the 3-Series and 5-Series sedans.

Johannes dismissed the notion that prices of used European vehicles suffered a bigger drop than other cars in the second-hand car market. “First-year depreciation rates stand at about 15 percent for the 3-Series and 16 percent for the 5-Series at the moment. I think the prices are the best in the premium car segment,” he said.

New 3-Series models cost between Rp 599 million and Rp 849 million off the road, while new 5-
Series models cost from Rp 798 million to Rp 1.24 billion off the road. In 2013, Bestindo expects sales to climb 11.9 percent to 300 vehicles.

Meanwhile, according to Astra Autoprima president director Ernando Demily, Astra targets to sell 10 Premium Selection cars every month at its outlet in Sunter, North Jakarta.