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Indonesia's used car market booms amid slump in new car sales
While consumers may not be buying brand-new cars, Indonesia's relatively young market for used cars is seeing a boom.
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A model poses with the Glory 560 of Chinese carmaker DFSK during its July launch at the Indonesia International Motor Show 2019 at the JIExpo Kemayoran in Central Jakarta. Data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) shows that new car sales fell 11 percent in the first half of 2019. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
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mid the decline in the sales of new cars in Indonesia, the used car market is flourishing as more people turn to the more affordable option of secondhand cars to meet their transportation needs.
Many consumers are choosing to buy used cars not just because they are cheaper, but because 3- to 7-year-old vehicles are still in relatively good condition, say used car dealers. The trend has led to growth in the country's used car market.
Johnny Widodo, the CEO of BeliMobilGue.co.id, a consumer-to-business (C2B) online marketplace for used cars aptly named "buy my car", said sales of secondhand cars increased significantly almost every year.
Annual used car sales was usually triple that of new car sales, which was about 1 million cars a year, said Johnny. “Monthly sales of used cars can reach 300,000 cars, which is quite high,” he added.
Data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) shows that retail sales of new cars in the domestic market had dropped 11 percent in the first half of the year to 499,573 cars, from 561,680 cars in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, retail sales of new cars in May-June had dropped 30 percent year-on-year from 93,837 to 65,657 vehicles.
Johnny said that opportunities in the secondhand car market were promising, because the sector had no dominant players.
