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Cautious hopes in RI automotive market after rough start
Gaikindo predicts that only 1.1 million cars will be sold in Indonesia this year, unchanged from last year.
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Hyundai Motors Indonesia launched its medium SUV, Hyundai Kona, at the 2019 IIMS on Thursday. (JP/Rachmadea Aisyah)
A
t the 2019 Telkomsel Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS), top Indonesian automakers are showing modest confidence over domestic demand for cars after a rough start to the year.
The Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) reported that domestic car sales had declined by 13 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the first quarter of 2019, worse than the association’s already conservative target set for the year.
The association expects this year’s car sales to remain at 1.1 million vehicles, unchanged from 2018.
Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), which holds the Honda license in Indonesia, is not setting any particular sales target this year, as it believes there will not be any significant increase in sales due to sluggish demand.
HPM’s sales to distributors totaled only 162,170 cars in 2018, down 13.2 percent from 186,859 in 2017, Gaikindo data show.
“We are not expecting sales to improve this year, and it is good enough for us to maintain last year’s results,” HPM marketing & after sales service director Jonfis Fandy said at the exhibition. “We have to put in extra effort this year, as we are not foreseeing any immediate recovery in domestic demand.
Meanwhile, Suzuki Indomobil Sales (SIS) is more optimistic about this year’s sales following the launch of the Suzuki New Carry pickups, which target small and medium businesses as its main buyers.
