Kijang output hits 1 million mark<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMI) launched on
\nWednesday its one-millionth Kijang van, making it the first four-
\nwheeled vehicle in the country to reach the one-million
\nproduction mark.<\/p>\n
The Kijang has become the most popular van in the country
\nsince it was first launched 1987, with users now ranging from the
\nrich to middle and lower income people.<\/p>\n
First launched as a basic utility vehicle designed mostly to
\ncarry goods, it is now a multipurpose vehicle used to carry goods
\nand people alike.<\/p>\n
Now selling for between Rp 130 million (US$15,300) and Rp 150
\nmillion, the van controls 68 percent of the domestic market in
\nits class, according to TMMI.<\/p>\n
In the first eight months of the year, Toyota produced 44,758
\nKijangs and sold 43,758 of them on the domestic market. Sixty
\npercent of Kijang parts are produced locally.<\/p>\n
Today, aside from being sold on the local market, Kijang vans
\nare exported to Brunei, the South Pacific, Papua New Guinea and
\nEast Timor in completely built-up (CBU) form and to South Africa,
\nMalaysia and the Philippines and Taiwan in completely knocked
\ndown (CKD) form.<\/p>\n
In the first seven months of the year, the cumulative export
\nvalue reached $715 million.<\/p>\n
President director of PT Toyota Astra Motor, Johny Darmawan,
\nsaid he was optimistic that the Kijang as well as other vehicles
\nmade by Toyota would continue to attract local customers.<\/p>\n
He said Toyota car sales were expected to reach 99,000 this
\nyear or 29 percent of the national car sale target for the year.
\nThe firm expects about 80 percent of the predicted 99,000 cars it
\nsells this year to be Kijangs.<\/p>\n
In the past, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan's largest
\nautomaker, manufactured and sold its products on the local market
\nthrough Toyota Astra Motor. However, the firm recently split its
\noperation into two separate units: Toyota Astra Motor for
\ndistribution and after sales service, and TMMI, with 4,378
\nemployees, for production.<\/p>",
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