Auto expo ends on high despite early jitters<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The nine-day Gaikindo 11th Auto Expo 2001 ended
\non Sunday with total sales expected to surpass Rp 400 billion
\n(US$40 million), matching last year's level.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the expo's organizing committee Danny Budiharto
\nsaid that, up until Friday, transactions had reached Rp 303
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
\"Visitors usually buy cars approaching the end of the expo,
\nafter they have finished looking around,\" Danny told The Jakarta
\nPost on the sidelines of a ceremony held to officially close the
\ncountry's most prestigious auto expo.<\/p>\n
He said that 2,308 cars had been sold at the expo as of
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
He added that South Korea's Hyundai car was \"the star\" of the
\nexpo, booking the highest sales.<\/p>\n
Danny said that Hyundai received 230 purchase orders, beating
\nbig Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda, which only received
\n90 and 80 orders respectively.<\/p>\n
\"It's no wonder Hyundai books more orders than others. The
\ncars are less expensive and also look good,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Association of Automotive Industries (Gaikindo)
\nchairman Bambang Trisulo was relieved that the auto expo could be
\nheld without being disrupted by last week's presidential
\nelection, which some experts had initially predicted could
\ntrigger conflict.<\/p>\n
\"Thank God that we have successfully completed the event after
\nsuch an uneasy period,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
\"The success certainly helped raise confidence in the
\neconomy,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's top
\nlegislative body, elected Megawati Soekarnoputri as the country's
\nnew President early last week, several minutes after dismissing
\nAbdurrahman Wahid. The latter had earlier made a futile attempt
\nto suspend the Assembly and the House of Representatives. The
\npresidential election ends a standoff between Abdurrahman and
\nlawmakers which has endured for months.<\/p>\n
Danny said that the political event had affected the number of
\nvisitors at the expo, particularly during the first four days, as
\ntension in the capital rose in the leadup to the MPR Special
\nSession.<\/p>\n
He said that visitors had only reached 120,000 people by
\nFriday, far lower than last year's 250,000 visitors.<\/p>\n
He said that the total number of visitors was expected to
\nreach 150,000 by the time the expo had concluded, which is only
\nhalf the organizer's initial target of 300,000.<\/p>\n
The venue for the auto expo, the Jakarta Convention Center, is
\nonly a few hundred meters away from the MPR building where
\nlawmakers held their session, and is heavily guarded by the
\nmilitary and police.<\/p>\n
At the expo, Hyundai displayed several car models including
\nthe 1,600 cc Matrix mini-multipurpose van (MVP), 1,500 cc Accent
\nsedan, 2,000 cc and 2,700 cc Trajet vans, 1,000 cc Atoz city car,
\nand the 2,400 cc and 2,700 cc Santa Fe sports cars.<\/p>\n
From the 230 orders received by Hyundai, Matrix booked 98
\norders, Accent 83, Trajet 21, Atoz 16 and Santa Fe the remaining
\n12. The price of a Matrix starts at Rp 157 million.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the newly launched Corolla Altis, with 67 sales,
\ndominated Toyota's sales at the expo, followed by the popular
\nKijang van with 15 sales.<\/p>\n
Another Japanese maker, Honda, which launched its new Civic
\nearly this year, did not receive many orders for the new car.<\/p>\n
The Honda City sedan was the star performer at Honda's stand
\nduring the expo, with 32 cars ordered.<\/p>\n
European cars such as Renault, Jaguar, Volvo, VW and Audi
\nrecorded low sales due to their high prices.<\/p>\n
Renault led the European car sales with 38 purchases, Jaguar
\nwith 32, Volvo 20, VW 11 and Audi 8.<\/p>\n
Gaikindo estimated that car sales in the country would hit
\naround 280,000 units this year, lower than last year's sales of
\nabout 300,000 cars.<\/p>\n
As of June, national sales stood at 148,000 units, an increase
\nof 15 percent from the 128,000 cars sold in the same period last
\nyear.(05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/auto-expo-ends-on-high-despite-early-jitters-1447893297",
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