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ec. 8, p2

The Esemka, a locally made car that once contributed to the skyrocketing popularity of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, is reportedly due to begin mass production next year.

Spokesperson for the car's producer, PT Solo Manufaktur Kreasi (Esemka), Sabar Budi Samekto, revealed that his firm had signed a cooperation agreement with Surakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMS) and the Chinese Beijing Automotive Group Co. Ltd. (BAIC) at the beginning of this month.

'We hope the production of Esemka cars will rise to about 500 units a month,' Sabar said over the weekend, adding that so far the company had produced 300 cars. The cooperation with the various parties, according to Sabar, was a way of realizing the pledge to produce all of the car's components domestically.

Your comments:

I hope that Esemka cars can compete with internationally made cars so that we don't need to import more cars from Japan and other countries.

Lilis Holisoh

It looks like an old version of the Honda CRV somehow, but of course it has a far smaller engine capacity. Government officials should be required to use Esemka's.

IAM Groot

By mass-producing Esemka cars, Indonesia does not only become consumer, but also the producer. Hopefully Indonesia will be able to compete with other countries in the automotive industry.

Haris Kurniawati

This is great ' make your own cars, Indonesia. Jobs will be created and the economy will see a boost. In Australia we have had locally produced cars such as the Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi and Toyota- all owned by foreign entities.

But after several decades they stopped production in Australia. There is not one Australian foreign-owned manufacturer left in Australia. Indonesia is the economy of the future and your own cars are a big part of that picture.

BVS

This is a good way to dump cheap cars on the streets of an already jammed Jakarta.

A. Aron Beng

I live here, why not buy a local product. It sounds good to me.

Jeroen

These cars could be used as government vehicles.

Batik

I was informed that the Esemka SUV is a Chinese-made car.

Esemka bought it as a kit car No more than some wrenches and screwdrivers are required to assemble it.

For now, it is nothing but a kid's toy, but let's be positive.

A thousand mile journey should begin with the first step.

Fussion B.