I

ndonesian automobile sales will probably meet expectations this year, according to an association, despite a report that sales figures took their first year-on-year tumble in over two-and-a-half years in May.

Auto sales in Indonesia fell 2.6 percent to 97,154 units in May this year, compared to the 99,697 units sold in May of 2013, according to a report by Reuters.

Sales increased by 4.5 percent year-on-year in April 2014. On a monthly basis, auto sales in May 2014 declined by 9 percent from April'€™s sales figures, which amounted to 106,811 units.

However, the sales figure for April was already a 5.5 percent decrease from that in March, which yielded the highest sales so far this year, with 113,096 units sold.

The Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) deputy chairman Jongkie Sugiarto said that while auto sales fell in May on a year-on-year basis, sales between January and May were 6.7 percent higher than those in the same period of last year.

'€œWe have not received any formal reports, as of yet, on the status of overall car sales within this period, but I believe that a 2.6 percent decrease is not a significant figure,'€ Jongkie told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Jongkie said auto sales were still on target for 2014, and Gaikindo was hoping to finish the year with a similar sales figure to that of 2013, which showed sales of over 1.25 million units.

Meanwhile, automotive companies are generally expecting lower figures for certain periods of the year. Toyota, the country'€™s most popular automobile brand, is predicting that its car sales ahead of Idul Fitri will be relatively flat.

PT Toyota Astra Motor Finance director Rachmat Samulo said that car sales would only increase by 5 percent compared to the previous month, adding that sales activity and production in May had been limited due to the frequency of public holidays.

'€œSales during Idul Fitri are generally the same almost every year, we predict that sales after Idul Fitri 2014 will only increase by 5 percent,'€ Rachmat said on Monday.

He added that Toyota managed to sell 35,000 units after the Idul Fitri period last year.

In order to cope with the upcoming Ramadhan and post-Idul Fitri season, Toyota plans to extend its workshops'€™ operating hours to handle the annual exodus of non-Jakartans to their hometowns.

Toyota'€™s sales fell to 31,000 units in May 2014, from 39,000 units in April. Commenting on the decrease, Rachmat told the Post that this was primarily due to the number of holidays during the month, which delayed and disrupted production and therefore affected supply and sales.