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utomotive dealer firm PT Tunas Ridean (TURI), part of Tunas Group, reported that it booked a 20 percent rise in total revenues throughout 2012 to reach Rp 10 trillion (US$1.03 billion), driven by the positive performance of its new car sales business line.

The newly implemented down payment regulation did not immediately affect Tunas Ridean’s car sales as the publicly listed company managed to sell 47,597 cars last year, 24 percent higher from 2011, according to Tunas Ridean president director Rico Setiawan.

However, Tunas saw its motorcycle sales decline mainly because of the weakening purchasing power of its customers who mostly work at plantation companies such as in Lampung and in other second-tier cities.

With the downturn in prices of plantation commodities, its customers could not afford to buy motorcycles.

Motorcycle sales dropped 12 percent to 175,257 units in 2012.

Under its new automotive sales business division, Tunas Ridean currently offers five car brands — Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, BMW and Peugeot — and one motorcycle brand, Honda.

It also reported that last year, PT Mandiri Tunas Finance, its joint venture with Bank Mandiri, recorded higher financing, up 17 percent to Rp 8.4 trillion.

The company said in a statement that its car and motorcycle sales were in line with the country’s automotive industry’s overall achievements last year, when car sales surged 25 percent to 1.1 million units, while motorcycle sales fell 12 percent to 7.1 million units.

Last June, Bank Indonesia raised the minimum down payment requirement for car and motorcycle purchases to avert a potential credit bubble and an excessive jump in the number of consumer loans.

The rule will be expanded in April to include sharia-based financing, which has become an alternative source of lending, following the higher down payment required for traditional lenders.

The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) projects that the number of cars sold this year will grow slightly by 10 percent to 1.21 million units this year, while the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI) has forecast that motorcycle sales will drop by 15 percent to 6.06 million units.

Besides new automotive sales and financing, Tunas Ridean also operates other divisions, which include secondhand car sales and car rentals.

Meanwhile, based on the company’s 2012 financial report, Tunas Ridean’s net profits surged 30 percent to Rp 420 billion from a year before. Its overall sales businesses contributed the most to the profits figure with 79.5 percent or Rp 334 billion, followed by financing with 13.6 percent and rental with 6.9 percent.

Tunas Ridean corporate secretary Adityawati Asyari said that this year, the company had estimated that its car sales would rise by 10 percent, in accordance with Gaikindo’s projection. “We expect that the planned launch of low-cost green cars will help boost our conservative sales target in 2013,” she said during a telephone interview.

For motorcycles, she added, it hoped that sales would at least match the figure it achieved last year.

Tunas Ridean currently operates 118 branch offices across the country. To achieve this year’s target, it plans on opening around 13 new branches for both car and motorcycle sales.

As of December 2012, the company’s total assets reached Rp 3.31 trillion. Its liabilities and equities amounted to Rp 1.54 trillion and Rp 1.77 trillion, respectively. The company’s shares closed at Rp 910 apiece on Monday, unchanged from last Friday.