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Lower commodity prices hit Isuzu, Daihatsu commercial vehicle sales
The positive sales performance of the new Isuzu Traga pickup could not halt the fall in overall commercial vehicle sales.
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Workers assemble parts of a Daihatsu car in an Astra Daihatsu Motor factory in Karawang, West Java, on Aug. 24, 2018. (Antara/-)
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ower commodity prices have hit Astra International’s commercial vehicle sales as both distributors of Daihatsu and Suzuki vehicles reported lower sales so far this year.
Astra’s subsidiary PT Isuzu Astra Motor Indonesia, the sole distributor of Isuzu cars in Indonesia, recorded a 0.6 percent year-to-date (ytd) decrease in sales to 17,697 units of its commercial vehicles, such as light truck and pickups, as of September, the company’s marketing director, Rahmat Samulo, said in Jakarta on Monday.
Rahmat said the positive sales performance of the new Isuzu Traga pickup could not halt the fall in overall commercial vehicle sales.
“The new pickup recorded a 180.6 percent ytd increase as many people favored our new pickup,” he said during a press briefing event in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, PT Astra Daihatsu Motor’s corporate planning and communication division head Elvina Afni conceded that the sales of the company’s commercial vehicles also declined this year, but she was reluctant to reveal exact figures.
As of October, she said, the company’s consolidated car sales were down by 10.7 percent ytd as commercial vehicles, which contributed 20 percent to 25 percent to total sales, dropped during the first 10 months of the year.
“The decline in commercial vehicle sales was caused by lower commodity prices,” she said during a press briefing in Jakarta.
Rahmat of Isuzu Astra also said that that the low commodity prices prompted businesses to hold back on buying new trucks and pickups that were primarily used to carry crops and commodities.
Given that global economic conditions are predicted to remain unchanged, he expected the automotive market, particularly the commercial vehicle, to stagnate next year.
Meanwhile, Elvina projected Daihatsu’s sales next year to grow in line with the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) projection of 5 percent growth in 2020.
